A Teacher's Duty
by Stoneage Woman
Summary: When Legolas and Aragorn are forced by Thranduil to teach Elven teenagers warfare,they both dread it with one accord. But the job is a more challenging and more fulfilling than either of them could ever dream. No slash.
1. Prologue

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 1: Landed Into a Fix

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

"What?!" Legolas shouted in disbelief and horror.

Thranduil looked at his son appraisingly. He was actually taking this better than he would have expected. He decided to be optimistic.

"Excellent, Legolas, I knew you'd be pleased!"

Aragorn snorted; Legolas couldn't have looked less pleased if he'd tried.

"Pleased?" Legolas said in incredulity, "I am not, nor will I ever be _pleased_. I absolutely refuse, no absolutely not; and that is all that will ever be said about the matter."

His father drew himself up in pretend-anger, which only fooled the on-lookers who had gathered at the raised voices. "Dare you contradict me in my own court? I swear if you had not been my son, I would have had you adequately punished!"

 He paused impressively and tried to radiate anger and power in the general direction of his son. Inwardly he was trying not to laugh at the quizzical eyebrow, which Legolas had raised at him.

"Anyway," he continued, "you must at least agree that Mirkwood's army has been rendered extremely weak in these years of the War. All our good warriors are either dead or permanently wounded. It is imperative that the younger generation be trained. And who better than you to teach them? You're an experienced warrior, the best of the best of our entire military force. We need an excellent, strong army this time, one that will not fail us. So is it not _logical_ that you teach them?"

Something in his father's gaze warned Legolas not to contradict him. He sighed, resigned to his fate. Behind him Aragorn was sniggering uncontrollably. Legolas turned and shot him a murderous look and then turned back to his father.

"It is as you command Your Majesty, but if you please, may I make a small suggestion? The first is that girls be allowed to my classes as well as boys so they may learn the art of self-defense, if, the Valar forbid, they ever need to call upon it."

"Yes, that makes sense," Thranduil said, nodding. "But I will have no women in my army, is that understood."

 "The second thing of course is that we need to raise an excellent army, and also to improve our ties with Gondor and the new King; isn't that right, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, yes; very true. Go on"

"So I propose that King Elessar undertake to teach them sword-fighting, twice a month; as a symbol of our complete unity. It would certainly improve our ties with Gondor, and be beneficial to both kingdoms. Isn't that right Aragorn?" Behind him there was a marked absence of the sniggering. In its place a shocked silence ensued.

"Yes, but-" Aragorn spluttered

"Excellent, excellent!" Thranduil said clapping his hands. "You will make the arrangements, I trust, Legolas?"

"Yes, ada. May we go and arrange for the proclamations now?"

"Yes, go," his father replied with a wide smile.

…

"What did you do that for?" Aragorn hissed as soon as they were out of the King's earshot.

"Do what?" Legolas asked innocently.

"You know what! Don't you give me that!"

"That," Legolas smirked, "Will teach you not to snigger at me. It's most undignified anyway, _Elessar_. Doesn't become a king."

 "Oh Eru, now we're both landed into this fix!" Aragorn lamented. "Teaching Elflings? Did I pass through war and fire, ash and dust, for this?! Legolas, one of these days I'm going to ki-"

"Oh just shut up, you idiot! The classes start in a week; we need to make arrangements. So will you just quit whining-"

"I DON'T whine."

"Oh, yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes you-"

And the two friends argued their way to the Hall of Proclaimers, to write the proclamation and inform the public of the King's decision. Perhaps it was a good thing they were oblivious of what was in store for them. If either of them knew what a teacher's duty entailed, they would certainly not have been so light-hearted.

…

TBC…

Well? What do you think? I wanted to write another story real quick and so I did. Please be kind; this is the first story I've ever written of this type. I'm still unsure of what genre to give it? What do you think?


	2. A Class of Hooligans

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 2: A Class of Hooligans

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

"I _cannot_ believe I was unlucky enough to come and pay you a visit _just_ when your father had this idiotic idea!" Aragorn complained, only half pretending, "I will never come here again! YOU HEAR ME! NEVER!"

"Aragorn," Legolas said, as sweetly as he could manage in his frenzied state, "Would you do both of us a favor and shut up for _once_ in your life, please! For one thing the idea is not idiotic. We both know that we need each other as allies, because Mirkwood and Gondor have been facing the same enemies, orc skirmishes and such, and neither is well prepared for it. So if we join hands and together produce an army of the greatest skill the world has seen, then we're both better prepared. And for another, you can't _help _coming here again. You're going to be coming for one week a month to teach them yourselves; you can't help that. You're going to teach them for one week in a month and then disappear off to Gondor the rest of the time, but I'll be the one who's stuck with them for an entire _year_. You don't see me complaining!"

"Alright, alright I'll shut up, for now. But only because we have to go to our first class right now… And Legolas? There's no need to worry. I'll cover for you, when you need me to, at least for this week. I don't deny it'll be difficult for you, you'll have a hard time with this lot; since they _know_ you're the Golden Prince of Mirkwood and all it'll be tough to teach them or get them to focus, but I'll help you through it. I promise."

Legolas smiled. Trust Aragorn to say something like that, and when he had most needed it too. "Thank you, mellon nin," he said, smiling gratefully at his friend. They walked on in silence, until they neared the glade in the forest that had been fixed for classes. As they made a turning, tumultuous noise greeted them.

"What the-?" Legolas exclaimed, stuffing his fingers in his ears.

Aragorn merely grinned. "Your childhood was centuries ago, so you may have forgotten the ways of a class packed with teenagers," he said. "Elven or otherwise. This is quite a huge realization for me. Maybe we did make as much noise as the teacher always asserted we did. He said we were the smallest class he had ever taught in his entire life and we still made the most noise. I remember certain occasions when he stormed out of the class at his wits end. Had absolutely no idea how to do anything with us."

"Thanks a million for the encouragement Aragorn," Legolas said sarcastically as they stepped into the classroom. What he saw nearly made him step right out again. They were everywhere. Throwing arrows and quivers all over the place, shouting louder than he had imagined any one had been capable of shouting. Even the girls were seemed to be taking a delight in yelling at each other at the top of their voices, though at least they weren't throwing things around like the boys were.

"I don't think even we were as bad as this," Aragorn muttered into his ear, but that was the least of Legolas's worries. His eyes raked the room again and again, trying to find some trace of sanity. His eyes fell upon one girl, standing quietly in the shadow of a tree, watching all that was happening around her without any change in expression whatsoever.

Her hair was curly, dark brown with a fiery red gold in it. It fell past her shoulders halfway down her back. She had been sensible enough to tie it back in one elegant knot, unlike the other girls, who had taken great pains with their hair. Her face was beautiful, but very cold and hard, as if she had pushed emotions back, far out of recall or desire.

Her eyes met his suddenly and something stirred within him, like an old memory that he had barely lived for a moment. He started as he saw her blue eyes. There was pain there, making her look centuries older than she was. Pain and loss.

"Well at least one seems something less than a hooligan," Legolas muttered to Aragorn, nodding towards the girl. Aragorn nudged him. He took a deep breath and clapped his hands loudly. Not one of them heard. He groaned, knowing he had no alternative now than to raise his voice, something he had _not_ been planning to do on the very first day.

"EXCUSE ME! MAY I HAVE ORDER PLEASE!"

Immediately there was a lot of hissing and shushing and they finally quieted down.

"I would remind you," he said coldly, "that for a warrior his weapons are his greatest assets. Do not take them lightly. Now you have unlimited ammunition, but you will not always. So would you be so kind as to pick your respective weapons up and then stand before me in some sort of recognizable order?"

They did as he had told them to do, with downcast expressions, and flushed, embarrassed cheeks.

"Now," he said a little more pleasantly, "Can you please tell me all your names. The She-Elfs first, please."

"I'm Ananya Azverlet, sir," said a sandy-haired girl. "And this is my twin sister Enanya."

"How on earth am I to tell you apart?" Legolas exclaimed before he could stop himself, for the two girls were like as two peas.

"You don't, sir," Enanya, or so he thought, replied, "We'll take care of that bit, we've been doing it for years."

He waited till the rest of the girls introduced themselves, taking particular interest in Ivana Oakenshield, the girl he had noticed before. Then all the boys introduced themselves. He didn't pay much attention to them, except one boy, Elano Timani, who was very soft-spoken.

In fact, Legolas realized, though he hadn't noticed earlier, this boy hadn't been of the ones who had been chucking things and yelling like madmen. He had been standing so unobtrusively under a tree that Legolas had had to look around to find the origin of the whispered "Elano Timani."

He gazed at the class. Seventy-six students. By the Valar, he was lucky he had a good memory for faces and names. For once he truly sympathized with Aragorn, who was looking, to say the least, befuddled.

"Well," he said, suddenly at a loss as to what to do. "Shall we begin?"

…

TBC…

Many thanks to kind reviewers!


	3. Tiresome Children

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 3: Elflings Can Really Kill You

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

Legolas looked at them, scrutinizing them, and said, "I'll ask you a quick few questions now and…we'll just see how much about warfare you know."

There was a pause, in which he waited for a response he did not get. "Celin, can you tell me the ideal stance for aiming and shooting an arrow at a still target," He aimed this question at a disheveled looking boy, with a thick mass of tousled black hair, tied in a careless plait.

The boy gave him a confused look. "Erm…is it…?" he hesitated.

"Go on, go on," Legolas said encouragingly.

"Is it standing with both feet together and keeping an erect unbending posture while aiming?"

"Not quite," Legolas said, trying not to sound too shocked at this absurd answer.

"Aurél?" Legolas turned to a petite girl with auburn hair, "could you try?"

"I...er… it- could it be standing on one leg, sir?"

_What?_ Legolas thought in disbelief; this answer was even more ridiculous than the last, "I don't think so, Aurél," he said and turned to Pilinel, a young man with golden curls and asked the same thing.

When he got an answer just as bad he almost gave up and said cuttingly, "With a name like yours I should have thought you knew at least that much."

The class gawked at him, while Pilinel looked a little sheepish. "Pilinel means Elf Arrow," he explained wearily, as he watched the class turn and gawk at Pilinel instead of him.

"Elgalad?" he asked, knowing he had to try.

"Elves," came the prompt answer from the boy he had asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Legolas wondered if he'd heard wrong.

"You asked what an elf should not shoot at; the obvious answer would be an elf." It was Elgalad's turn to be surprised.

"I asked nothing of the sort," Legolas said beginning to lose his patience, "Please pay attention when I ask a question. I asked what the ideal stance for shooting a still target is. Am I right in guessing that you don't know?"

The boy nodded, cheeks flaming.

"I thought so." Legolas decided to open the question for all, though he did not really expect any answers. "Does _anyone_ here know?"

There was a silence and then Ivana answered in one long breath, "The preferred leg behind the other, the shooting hand stretched as far back as possible, the entire body leaning back and the profile facing the target."

Legolas tried not to look too stunned, "Correct. Excellent."

After that he tried a new tack and kept the rest of his questions open to the entire class. Ivana answered all of them, and correctly too.

"The most important thing while shooting a moving object?" he shot at them.

"The follow-through," came Ivana's swift answer.

"Correct. The most common mistake made while aiming?"

"Keeping the eye on the arrow and the bowstring but not on the target."

"Correct. What must one do when one wants to incapacitate but not kill?"

"Aim at the thigh."

"Right. The most difficult target to shoot at?"

"A hare, as it would never stay still for long."

And so it went on and on, endlessly. Whatever he asked, she answered without hesitation and as swiftly and promptly as if she had been answering these questions for centuries. Finally when they came to a stop, he asked her to demonstrate her skills, pointing out various targets. She hit every one of them, with an aim almost as true as his. He threw an apple in the air and asked her to shoot at it, and she did, her arms forming a perfect follow-through as she met the apple squarely in the middle.

When he finally asked her to sit down, it was getting late. He told them that the next day would be devoted to sword training, which Aragorn would be in charge of, and then dismissed them.

As he and Aragorn walked back to the palace together, Aragorn said conversationally, "That Ivana girl is really something, isn't she."

"Yes, I wonder where she received such exceptional training," Legolas replied.

"Are you going to ask her?"

"No, I don't want the others to think I'm paying her too much attention."

"You won't have a choice if she's as good with the sword as she is at archery. I wonder how we can train her if she already knows everything."

"We'll probably have to revert to making her perfect in every way."

"Yes, I really don't see other way."

They stopped in front of the room Aragorn was staying with.

"Well, I'm going to have a bit of a lie in before lunch," Aragorn said.

"Me too," Legolas replied. "Elflings can really kill you."

….

TBC…

Hey guys! Review replies next chappie, I really should be getting to work right about now. I'll just stop and thank Navaer Lalaith for her amazing site, which supplied me with all these Elvish names and their meanings:

Celin-Water Flows Musically

Aurél-Morning Star

Pilinel-Elf Arrow

Elgalad-Elf Light

That site rules! Check it out! Here's the address:

(http/ and to my other dear reviewers: Thanks a million all of you! I just want you to know that your encouragement has really made me feel good. I need lots more of it though; for your sakes this fic HAS to be finished by the end of September. Because October is my mid-term exams (grimaces) and I MUST do well in them (since this is 10th grade and my board exam is coming up in March 2005) or I'll die. So I won't be able to write a lot that month. That's why this MUST be done. So more reviews and encouragement please!

Thanks to: Navaer Laliath, Paige Woodland, The Reader of Books, and last (BUT DEFINETLY NOT THE LEAST) Star-Stallion.

And now I really must be going. Once again, bye and Ta!


	4. Revelations

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 4: Revelations

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

To Legolas's dismay, Ivana was just as good at sword fighting as she was at archery. Aragorn was impressed with her but both made sure they did not devote as much time to her as they had done yesterday, for fear that the class would think they were "playing favorites."

They divided the class into pairs, and since it was an odd number, Legolas paired himself with Elano, who by virtue of his quiet, unobtrusive nature had not found himself a partner. Aragorn walked around the class, distributing wooden swords, which they would use to practice. Legolas looked around the class and noted with some amazement that most of them were fairly good with a sword and learned fairly quickly.

But when his attention focused on Elano, he found that the boy was as bad with the sword as Ivana was good with it. His strokes were clumsy, his foot movement was faulty and his stance wasn't quite right. He was pathetically slow on the uptake, but he tried so hard and with such fervor, that Legolas found himself unable to use the cold, cutting tones he used when speaking to the rest of the class. Instead, he reverted to the encouraging tone that he used on students only when they most needed it. He tried to tell himself that he was "playing favorites", but by the end of the week, when Elano had made little improvement, he knew he had little choice but to continue just that way, regardless of what the others had to say

As the days passed he watched with pride the class's performance improving. Even though Aragorn wasn't present Legolas carried on sword training along with archery. He did not want them to forget what they had learned, and he himself was competent enough to teach them new maneuvers. He gave each of them individual training and found some were more competent in one area and some in the other. For instance, Enanya (or so he thought) had a knack at parrying with a sword while her twin met most of her targets squarely in the middle. Everyone present had an aptitude in something, except, it seemed, for Elano.

"Buck up, Elano!" Legolas exclaimed as the boy missed his fifty-yard target for the fifth time in a row. "You can do better than that! All the others have moved to seventy-yard targets, you're the only one who can't even hit a fifty-yard one! You-"

But he speech stopped halfway, as he saw the brief sparkle of tears in the boy's eyes. He quickly turned his back on Legolas and fitted another arrow in the bow but his hands were shaking slightly and the arrow missed by an even wider margin than his earlier attempt had. Legolas sighed, and told Elano to sit down. The boy slumped on the floor, head down, completely disheartened. A few snickers passed through the room.

Legolas swung around, his guilt at making Elano cry lending his tone a fire that the class hadn't heard before. "That's enough! I would remind you that we are all here to learn, not to make fun of others!" His eyes flashed dangerously and at once, the class was so silent that birds could be heard in the distance. He stared around them, wishing he hadn't spoken so harshly. But the damage was done, and he did not want to continue the class anymore, for fear that he would become too angry with them. "You are dismissed," he said, taking them by surprise, "Please be here on time tomorrow. And for the Valar's sake, don't practice when you go home! I don't want you unlearning what you learnt today." He waited as the class silently filed out of the clearing and then said in an undertone, "Stay a moment, Elano. I'd like to talk with you."

The boy stopped in his tracks, turned and sat down again. As the last of his class left the clearing, Legolas heard a few fleeting whispers; "…so mean to us…", "…stupid prince…", "…plays favorites with Elano and Ivana…" At this last comment Legolas looked sharply at Elano, but he did not give any indication that he had heard.

When he was sure that they were all gone he stared at Elano, unsure of how to begin "Elano, this isn't…I mean…well, what I'm trying to say is that you're not exactly the best fighter here. I know that I should not ask, you try so fervently, but…Elano, do you _want_ to learn to fight? Do you actually _want_ to be in the army?"

After a pause so long that Legolas nearly gave up on him, Elano replied, in a very low voice, "Yes. I… of course I do."

"That sounds rather to me like a 'no'," Legolas interjected gently. "You need not fear me, Elano. Tell me the truth"

Elano just continued to stare at the ground. For a long moment not a sound was made. Then Elano's shoulders began to shake with suppressed sobs. Legolas was too shocked for words. He just stared at the boy.

"No," Elano said, looking up with tears streaming down his face, "No, I _hate_ fighting with all my heart. It- it took my ada away from me"

Legolas sucked in a breath. "When?"

"A month ago he was brought back by his contingent of soldiers, badly wounded. It was an orc skirmish. He…he died in my arms, and he made me promise I would be a great soldier just like him. He said that I must do my duty to Mirkwood. Those were his last words to me, so I have no choice but to fulfill them. But sir, sometimes I wonder, why is _war_ my duty to Mirkwood. I was always of the impression that the greatest service I could do to Mirkwood would be to sing songs of peace and happiness and…well. There are two ways in which peace can be kept; one by war, and one by peace itself. I just thought better of the latter. That's all."

Before he could say a word, the boy ran away from the clearing, and disappeared into the forest so quickly that Legolas never even had a chance to stop him.

….

TBC…

Rather short I know, but it can't be helped. I can't say much, except to thank my reviewers (especially the Reader of books, for the encouragement), because I have to go. This chapter wasn't as funny as the last, for the seriousness is beginning to creep into this fic at last. Not too much though, it will be gradual. Now, do be dears and tell me how you liked this story. Thanks a million all of you!

P.S. I'm a bit embarrassed that I have to ask it, but I really don't know- what exactly is a Mary Sue?


	5. Bad Relationships

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 5: Bad Relationships

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

As the weeks passed on, Legolas grew to love and understand the Elflings in his care. But he never showed it, and always kept his tones very cold when he spoke to them, thus earning, ironically, their hatred and fear. It was a vicious cycle he could not escape because the image of him as a nasty teacher had stuck in the minds of most of them. First impressions always mattered the most, Legolas reflected once, and he cursed himself for not giving a better one of himself.

But his reaction had been in accordance with their behavior. He had thought they were a rough undisciplined lot, and had accordingly released the force of his tongue on them. Now he regretted it, for with every passing day, he grew to admire and like them more and more.

His affection for one person was wearing off very rapidly, though. He was beginning to dislike Ivana more and more. Not only was she one of the reasons that his class had begun to hate him so much, she acted as though she knew it, and didn't care two hoots about it, either. Her pretty face always wore the same impassive expression. It drove him quite crazy, because he didn't know anything about her at all. He had come to know every one of the children in his class almost inside out, but Ivana was a mystery.

She was haughty and full of pride, and her excellence in warfare did not help matters much at all. He had no way to reprimand her for anything because there was absolutely nothing to reprimand. When he did get a chance to scold her he did it in a way that would have brought tears to the eyes of many of the other girls, but she would just give him a maddening look of superiority.

"Ivana! You will not stare around the class with that smirk on your face! Pay attention when I'm teaching!" he'd bark at her.

"I beg your pardon," she would reply coolly.

"You will please address me as sir," he'd say angrily.

"Yes of course, _sir_," and the amusement on her face made him want to grind his teeth.

The class would stare at him with newfound respect for a few moments until he'd be forced to praise her for a truly excellent parry with the sword, where she'd managed to send Celin's sword flying right out of his hands. Then the sour looks would return, and so would a fresh wave of anger for Ivana on his part.

And sometimes, when he had given Ivana up for evil, she would display such kindness and thoughtfulness, he would begin to think the better of her, but then she'd do something to make him dislike her again.

One day, for instance, one of the twins arrived in class without her twin, wearing a very upset expression on her face.

"Ananya?" he asked by way of confirmation.

She nodded, but did not say anything.

"Where's Enanya?"

Ananya shook her head, and turned her face away from Legolas. She did not want to share her troubles with this hated teacher.

"Is she ill?" Ivana asked softly, sympathy so evident in her voice that Ananya didn't glare at her but nodded, her lip trembling.

"Is it serious?" Ivana asked.

"N-no. I mean it might be. We don't know, the healers couldn't confirm anything."

"Don't worry, An, it's seldom as severe as it seems. Trust me," Ivana's voice was so reassuring that Ananya was cheered slightly.

Legolas watched this exchange between them with surprise, and some admiration and wonder that Ivana had managed to handle a situation, which he wouldn't have been able to handle himself, so wonderfully. But the next moment Ivana was back to smirking at the class and he felt as if he could have hit her.

"Don't worry about it," Aragorn said reassuringly when he told him about it. "She's just…I don't know. Maybe she's only good at warfare and not with people. I know someone just like that, myself."

"Who?" Legolas asked in curiosity.

"An elf."

"Do I know him?"

"Yes, I rather think you do."

"Who?"

"Let's think…you?"

At which Legolas punched him playfully in the shoulder, and gave him a mock glare.

….

The next day was a fine one and Legolas felt instinctively that his charges were in a rarely receptive mood, which meant that a lot of good learning would go on today. What was more Ananya arrived in class with her usual smile and dimpled cheeks.

Legolas smiled and said in an uncharacteristically warm voice, "I assume Enanya is feeling better?"

In return he received a sunny smile, "She is better, sir. She should be with us in a few days."

"I'm glad," Legolas said, encouraged by this positive reaction, and Ananya gave him another smile. "Well now, let's get down to work! Partner up, please. Same partners as yesterday."

Aragorn took over teaching the class. Legolas watched them out of the corner of his eyes, deliberately not fighting with his full potential so that Elano might have some chance against him. The boy was improving, but very slowly. Legolas got the feeling that he might learn faster, if he actually wanted to. But his internal battle wasn't allowing him to do anything properly, including, by the look of his tired eyes and increasingly thin frame, eating and sleeping. Legolas was beginning to seriously to wonder how in all of Middle Earth the he would be able to teach the boy anything.

He consulted Aragorn about it, telling him of their last conversation, and asking him what he should do about it.

Aragorn thought a moment and said, "You can't stop teaching him, for it has reached far too personal a level for that. Maybe if you convinced Elano that fighting is as honorable as singing songs of peace, when done for the right reasons…"

"And how do you propose I do _that?_" Legolas said, slightly frustrated, "the boy won't even talk to me, for Valar's sake! He's embarrassed and very stubborn. He refuses to even look at me when I try to catch his eye."

"Well, you'll think of something," Aragorn replied. "I think you're worrying yourself too much about Elano. What about your relationship with the rest of the students?"

"What about it?" Legolas said, feigning ignorance.

"Legolas! You know what I'm talking about. Why do they hate you so much? What on earth did you _do_ to them!"

"What did _I_ do to _them_! I like that! Why don't you ask what _they_ did to _me_! If you were here in the beginning of the year you'd know they behaved like hooligans! It took them ages to settle down. I _had_ to give them the treatment I gave them, or they'd have got the better of me."

"Right. Well I won't contradict you, but I'll caution you…relationships of this sort never end well unless you work hard to come to a compromise. I remember some teachers of mine whom we hated because of this sort of thing, and we made their lives miserable!"

"Thanks for the encouragement, Aragorn. Now if you don't mind, we're getting late. The king wants to know about our progress, remember? He expects a report today, we have to work out what to say to him."

Aragorn smiled wryly, "I looked forward to it."

…

TBC…

Here's a longer post (and a quick update!) for you. Not very long, I know, but hey! Loads of schoolwork. Thanks a million all of you, for the definitions of a Mary Sue. For those who thought Ivana was too perfect, hope you're satisfied with this chapter. And if you think the change in her is too rapid, there's a reason for that. Except that I kind of made it up on the spot. LOL! For those who thought her excellence at warfare was overrated there's a reason for that too (one I didn't make up on the spot), and it _does_ have a reasonable explanation, I promise you. Someone said Aragorn was a bit OOC, I tried harder this chapter, hope you liked it. Sorry about this strange way of replying to reviews, I owe you all (that's Star-Stallion, The Reader of Books, Lissewen, NoroLimAsfoloth, Dark Borg Drone and LittleCrazy1) a huge thank you! Keep the reviews coming, please! Ta!


	6. Progress Report

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 6: Progress Report

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

The king surveyed them, wondering what exactly to say. They all knew that this meeting was a formality. There was no real sense in it, because when men of such great caliber are assigned a task they make sure that the task is accomplished. Progress reports hardly made any difference.

"Well?" he asked them finally.

"It is going well, Your Majesty," Legolas told him. "I have moved them up to shooting moving targets…King Elessar has also taught them well and they are now fairly competent with the sword. I too have been teaching them to fight with the sword. We have already graduated them to using actual swords instead of wooden ones and they have now grown comfortable with them…I think that if all continues like this, they will form a fairly excellent part of the army."

"Good," Thranduil said, and for want of anything better to say, "That is well indeed; we need a very strong army."

There was an awkward pause, and then Legolas voiced something that had been circling his mind since they had entered his father's throne room, but which he hadn't consulted Aragorn about.

"Your Majesty?" Legolas asked tentatively, "May I ask permission for something which would be exceedingly beneficial to the students' training?"

Aragorn gave him a quick glance, saying with his eyes, _what are you talking about?_

The King frowned, "And what would that be?"

"I would like to take them on a hunting trip," Legolas said, ignoring Aragorn's horrified look. "For two months. Army life is hard, and it is advisable that they know precisely what they are in for before they enlist. Their lives have been well protected. I want to take them on a hunting trip a little beyond the borders of Mirkwood. I want them to experience sleeping on hard ground on thin bed rolls, cooking their own meals, catching their own food…here they can really put their skills to use and they will learn far more then they would in that clearing."

Thranduil brows furrowed as he considered this. At last he said, "I have no objections. But you must think slightly ahead. What of you, King Elessar? Are you to accompany them? Will you be able to leave your duties as a king for as long as two months?"

"I'm afraid not," Aragorn replied, giving Legolas a sidelong glare. "At least not for as long as two months. I can join them for one month."

"Today is March 21." Legolas said, nodding. "I think if we gave them a notice of nine days we could start on the first of April. Elessar could join us by the first of May. And then we would return on the last day of May. Is that alright by you, King Elessar?"

Aragorn rolled his eyes at this unusual show of respect for him in front of he King, and said, "Yes that is quite alright. I can meet you at…what venue would you prefer?"

"We could meet you at The Tree, on the morn of May first. What say you?"

Aragorn nodded, but Thranduil looked puzzled. "What do you mean, "The Tree"?" he asked.

"It is just a particularly noticeable tree in the northern parts of Mirkwood that both Elessar and I have seen. It is very beautiful, that is why it caught our attention."

"Oh, that tree. Yes, that is a good meeting place."

"Your Highness?" Legolas said after a pause, asking the question that he would not have dared ask if he wasn't the King's son.

"Yes, Legolas?"

"I was wondering if we could take the She-elfs on this trip as well."

"WHAT!"

"Only the one's that will actually consent. I'll ask them whether they want to come or not, I promise. I think this trip will be an experience for them too."

Thranduil let out a short laugh. "Do as you will. I care not. But keep in mind that those girls are being trained for self-defense and not for the army. Don't waste much time on them. The boys are the important ones here."

Legolas pursed his lips in disapproval. He did not like the fact that his father was always so derogatory when it came to She-Elfs. He was also surprised that his father had relented so easily.

His expression must have told the king as much for the other replied, "I relent only because I am quite certain that those girls will not consent to coming with you-" Legolas couldn't help but smile at this, that's how much his father knew about the strong-willed, obstinate girls in his class, who would stop at nothing to prove themselves equal to the boys- "And even if they do, I know that you will have sense enough to take good care of them, because if even one of them has so much as a _sprained ankle_ upon your return, things will go rather badly for you. Is that understood?" His father's voice was dangerously low.

"Yes ada," Legolas said. "Are we…are we dismissed?"

"Yes you are," his father gave them an imperious nod and they walked out from the room quietly.

As soon as they were out of the king's earshot, Aragorn turned on Legolas. "That is the _second_ time you've roped me into something that I have had absolutely no desire to do," he hissed, "Why don't you just go and boil your head?"

Legolas merely grinned, "Do not flatter yourself, mellonamin. It has nothing to do with you. I only want to do the correct thing for this class. I'll remind you that I'm again stuck with them for far more time than you are. If anyone should complain, it's me."

"You're the one who suggested it in the first place!" Aragorn said in amazement at the audacity.

Legolas grinned, "That's precisely the point."

Aragorn groaned at this tautological argument, "Never mind, there's no point arguing. It's too late anyway. I just think that this time, my noble friend, you've bitten of more than you can chew. You'll regret you even came up with this crazy theory before this trip is half over."

"Any great words of advice, _king_ Elessar?" Legolas said, but he was only half-joking.

"Well, yes," now that you mention it Aragorn said, his eyes twinkling a little, "First, don't act like an idiot, second, don't act like an idiot, and third, don't act like an idiot. That would about summarize it. But seriously? I think you should just work on mending your relationships with that class. Two months is no joke and you must get them to trust you so you will never have to worry about them."

"Oh dry up, Aragorn," Legolas replied scoffing a little. "You've been saying that over and over since this morning's class. I doubt it's as important as all that. They respect me, that should be enough."

"I know one who does not respect you very much at all. What of Ivana?"

Legolas pursed his lips, "Be that as it may, I don't care. If that pretty head of hers has not an ounce of common sense, it isn't my concern."

Aragorn shook his head. "No, Legolas. I must depart this evening, but I entreat you, for the Valar's sake try hard to better their opinions of you. Please. It may depend on everything. If not because you care, do it for your own sake. Remember what your ada said, the consequences _will_ be dire if any of the girls are hurt. At least with them you must try to better your relationships."

"Alright, alright," Legolas said, "I fail to see the importance of all this but if it pleases you, I will try a little harder with them. Now can we _please_ go to the Hall of Proclaimers to make an announcement about the hunting trip?"

"You are incorrigible. Did I ever tell you that?" Aragorn grumbled as he allowed himself to be dragged in the direction of the Hall of Proclaimers.

"Only about a million times," Legolas laughed in reply.

…

TBC…

Long time, no see, I know! But forgive me, I have loads to do every day of the week. It's a wonder I even had time to squeeze this in. Sorry for the shortness of my updates, but I CAN'T do better, I'm sorry! Hey, remember that music exam I had to do in May, Star? I passed with flying colours. 77 percent! That's 307 out of 400. Also I'm very flattered by the way you actually took so much trouble to review the previous chapter, The Reader of Books! Thank you! And now I'm going to go and rest my poor eyes for a bit…THEY HURT! LOL! Bye and Ta!


	7. An Eventful Lesson

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 7: An Eventful Lesson

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

The sun was high above the treetops when Legolas made his way to the now familiar clearing where he knew his class was waiting for him. He knew they would all have received news of the hunting trip and he wanted to see their reactions to the idea and try and explain to them the sort of things they would be faced with in the wild.

When he entered the glade, he was greeted by the familiar buzz of talking which even his presence had never been able to quiet. He cleared his throat loudly and waited until he had their attention. "Did you all receive news of the hunting trip?" he asked them.

There was a general murmur of assent.

"Did all of you get permission to come?" he asked, and blanched as everyone started talking at the same time.

"One at time, please," he said holding up a hand to stop the flurry of words, "Those of you who did not get permission, raise your hands and tell me why."

There were four people who hadn't received permission. All of them were girls. And in all cases, it was because their parents wouldn't let them go on a hunting trip because they had only come to learn self-defense, not how to live in the wild.

_Oh well_, he thought ruefully, _a lot of people think like ada, so I should be glad that it is only four who cannot come_. He was actually quite happy that so many were coming, for he felt that this would be the most important lesson that they would ever learn this year.

"Sir?" Aurél said, breaking into his reverie.

"Yes, Aurél." he replied.

"Are you sure- I mean are we only to carry what you instructed us to? Five shirts and three pairs of trousers to last us for two months?"

Legolas restrained himself from laughing with great difficulty. "Aurél," he said, "After one week in the wild, none of you will even be thinking of clothes. When I go on hunting trips for this long I take three shirts and two pairs of trousers, and most of the time I never even get to wear all of _those_. I only allowed for more clothes because I knew some of you would throw a fit if you had less than this."

"I'm already having a fit," one of the girls muttered, much to his amusement, but he decided to ignore it.

"Any other questions?" he asked.

For once they decided to be orderly and raise their hands instead of all speaking at the same time. He motioned for Elgalad to speak.

"What are we going to eat?" Elgalad asked.

"Food, what do you think, moron?" Celin said loudly, at which the class went into instant uproar. Legolas winced, for the life of him he could not see how that was supposed to be remotely funny. Perhaps the age difference made him unable to understand their undeniably _strange_ sense of humor.

"Thank you for that input, Celin," he said with a hint of sarcasm, "But to get back to the question, we will be hunting animals and eating our kill. Obviously all seventy of us cannot go on a hunting trip together, so we'll divide up in groups and take it in turns to go for a few hours while the other remain in the camp. I will also be carrying provisions so that we won't go completely hungry."

This last comment earned him a glare from everyone, and he winced as he realized that he had implied that they were incompetent. "Any other questions?" he asked hurriedly to change the subject.

"Sir, where are we going to sleep?" Enanya (or was it Ananya?) asked.

He groaned inwardly. He had assumed they would have at least known about _bedrolls_, but apparently they did not. "We'll sleep on bedrolls, which you'll have to carry," he answered resignedly, "You'll have to carry all your own luggage, so try not to carry too many things. It will burden you unnecessarily."

"Sir, what if we're attacked by spiders?"

"We won't be, Linnor. I'm not going to leave any of you alone until we're outside Mirkwood's borders, where there is no danger. Only then will the hunting really begin. But to keep you safe in the meantime, you will not disobey me when I tell you where you are not to go. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good," he paused a moment, "Any more questions?"

No one said anything, so he told them to pair up and start practicing sword fighting. As always, he was with Elano. The boy was still very bad at sword fighting. Legolas hadn't even been able to graduate him to real swords; he was still trying to master working with a wooden one.

"Well done, Elano," he said encouragingly to the boy when he had managed to master a simple move after his tenth try. "Keep on practicing that; I'll be right back."

He watched the class with appraising eyes. The best fighters were without a doubt Ivana, Celin, the Azverlet twins, and Linnor. Ivana and Celin always paired of with each other because he was the only person apart from Legolas who could have stood a chance with Ivana.

Being paired with Ivana was proving to be good for Celin. He was getting better by the day, having to constantly be on the alert and doing his best when he was fighting her. He watched them both with a measure of approval and was just turning to Pilinel and Elgalad when he a sharp cry of pain broke through the air.

He whirled around and saw that Celin was on the ground clutching his right ankle tightly, his face white with pain. He was by the boy's side in an instant, "Let me see your foot. What happened?" he glared at Ivana, directing the last question at her.

"She didn't…do anything," Celin said, gasping as another wave of pain shot through his ankle.

"Let me see it," Legolas repeated concern clearly showing in his voice. When Celin did not move his hands away from his ankle, he said more sharply, "Let me see it, Celin!"

The boy said nothing for a few seconds, not moving from his position. Then suddenly he removed his hands from the ankle and jumped to his feet, apparently fine.

"Celin? What-?" Legolas was speechless with surprise.

"It happens sometimes. It is a weak muscle or nerve in my ankle; if I strain it too much it hurts sometimes. It hasn't happened in months now."

"And it's fine now? Just like that? Seconds later?" Legolas said incredulously.

"Yes. It's a shooting pain, it comes and it goes."

Legolas did not want to tell Celin that he could not be in army with an ailment like this, but what else could he do?

"Celin," he said gently, "I'm sorry but you cannot fight with a hurt like that. Imagine what would happen if it played up in the middle of an orc skirmish. It would be the death of you Celin, I cannot let you fight with a leg like that."

"But sir, it only happens once in a few months! Even years have gone by when it hasn't happened, honestly! I can still fight!" He knocked the sword out of Ivana's hand to prove it, neatly flicking it out of her grasp and getting a glare in return.

"Celin, you maybe skilled, but you cannot fight with that hurt. I'm sorry but it cannot be helped."

"It can be helped," Celin said angrily. "I'm still coming on that trip, and I will prove to you that I can still fight."

"Of course you're still coming on the hunting trip, Celin," Legolas said with as much patience as he could muster, "But eventually you will realize that what I'm saying has a point. And even if you don't realize it, the King will never allow you to fight with an ailment like that. He will not risk it, Celin."

Celin said nothing, but he was seething. For a moment it seemed as if he would say something more to Legolas, but he contented himself with a glare and walked stiffly back toward Ivana.

Legolas sighed softly and looked up to find that everyone had crowded around and was staring at him. He gave a sigh of irritation and said rather sharply, given the circumstances, "Everyone to your places, please. Continue practicing!"

As they all returned to their places shooting him sour looks, he walked back toward Elano, wondering why they always refused to see sense. He _knew_ he was right and suspected they too knew it in their heart of hearts. But Celin was a much-admired member of the class and none liked to see him talked to in that fashion.

He sighed and motioned to Elano to start parrying again. The boy tried to oblige but was so hopeless at it that Legolas actually had to hold him by the arm and guide his hands, moving with him as they turned and twisted. He closed his eyes momentarily as he heard a few of the mean ones snicker and laugh at the spectacle. Now he would have to tick them off again.

"Stop that, please!" he said cuttingly, "I would remind you that we are all here to learn, not to make fun of others." He favored them with one of his icy glares and nearly rolled his eyes as he received murderous glares in return. If look could kill, he thought, he'd have been dead weeks ago.

He stepped away from Elano after a moment and was heartened to see that he had finally begun to grasp the concept. "Good, Elano," he said after it was clear that he had mastered the move, "Now do this."

He grasped Elano's hand and guided it through the move, "Up, down then swing it to the side. No, not like that, you're moving too much to the right…no, not so little, either, you have to move it a little more..._that's_ right, you've got it. Well done." He stepped away from the boy and watched him perform the move again. "Practice that," he said and moved away to watch the Azverlet twins.

He noted with a small measure of amused amazement that they were almost able to read one-and- other's mind and knew exactly what to expect from each other and also when to expect it. He realized that they should become accustomed to other partners too if they were to get anywhere. "Ananya, please pair up with Linnor for a change," he said, earning himself another reproachful look, "Enanya, you pair up with Aurél. It's time you learnt to deal with other people as well."

He watched for a moment after they had changed and was pleasantly surprised to see that they were just as good even in different pairs. _This class will never cease to amaze me_, he thought, and though he didn't know it then, he couldn't have been more right.

…

TBC…

Hey moonshine44! You're the only one still reading this, and I'm glad you reviewed because I'd lost heart with this story. Thank you for taking time to read it! Hope you're happy I made it longer than usual.


	8. Setting Off

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 8: Setting Off

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

The first of April was an unusually cloudy day. Legolas scanned the sky anxiously as he walked towards the clearing. If it rained, he thought grimly, it would probably be the worst possible way to start the hunting trip. Although, the way things had been going with his class lately, it would hardly seem inappropriate.

As he stepped into the clearing, he was almost deafened by the excited shouts of his students. They hadn't been this loud since that memorable first day when he had first walked into this clearing to teach them for the first time.

He debated whether to raise his voice and effectively start the trip on a bad note, or to just stand there and hope his so-called 'forbidding' presence would do the job. He decided on the latter, and stood patiently for an entire minute before they noticed him.

Then, with much hushing each other in loud whispers, they quieted down. He surveyed all seventy-two of them closely before speaking.

"I hope you have all brought everything as required and are carrying full water-skins?"

"Yes, sir," they chorused together.

"Good. How many of you are good with horses?"

Everyone started talking at once, "I am, sir…I'm terrified of horses, sir…Ooh, horses are sooo adorable…Horses? Sir, I've never even seen one!"

"PLEASE RAISE YOUR HANDS, CLASS!" Legolas shouted over the din.

Everyone except for Elano raised his or her right hand.

Legolas looked at them in disbelief. "_All _of you are good with horses!"

More than half of them dropped their hands. Legolas sighed in irritation. Just to make sure they had _finally_ understood the question, he repeated, "All the people good with horses raise your hands, please!"

The half with their hands up dropped them, looking sheepish, and the other half raised theirs. Legolas looked at them in amazed incredulity, wondering _where_ they had been when the Valar was handing out basic understanding skills.

"Well, those of you who _are_ good with horses, pair up with those who are not," he said after a pause, "Two Elves to one horse, please."

With much shuffling of feet and muttering, they paired off as Legolas had asked them too. For once, the Azverlet twins were actually seen apart from each other because neither of them were any good with horses.

All the girls ended up with boys, because the boys were the ones had been trained to use horses at home and were therefore more comfortable than them. Here again, the mentality of the people of Mirkwood came into sharp focus. The boys were meant for fighting, and the girls for cooking. As long as this prejudice held force, it could and would, never be otherwise.

There was however one exception to this rule. Ivana was exceptionally good with horses, while Elano was decidedly not. Because both were so unpopular, they ended up being together. Legolas wondered how this _particular_ partnership was going to turn out.

He led them to the palace stables, and told them to choose one horse each. Because of their awe at being in sight of the tall Mirkwood castle, they did this in an unusually quiet and orderly fashion.

While they chose, Legolas checked all his bags properly to see if he had missed anything. Then he strapped them onto Arod, who was getting a lot of awed glances from his students.

"Well, you seem to have a lot of fans here," he murmured to the horse in Rohirric, "Not surprising, for it seems that your role in the war is more well known here than mine." He patted the animal gently and leaped effortlessly onto its back. When he saw that all of the children were well settled, even the ones who were 'terrified' of horses, he rode out of the palace gates with thirty-six horses and seventy-two teenagers following in his wake.

…

They rode at a fast trot the entire morning. He could hear excited shouting and talking over the trotting horses, and he smiled at how little it took to excite them.

They made camp in a clearing around noon. Legolas wanted to continue teaching them a little archery and sword fighting everyday so they would not lose practice. For a while all that could be heard was the clash of swords and the hum of bowstrings. They practiced for two hours.

Then Legolas started rummaging in his bags of supplies for a mid-day meal. He was lucky that these were Elves and not Men, he thought, smiling at the thought of how many more bags it would to take fill the appetites of seventy-two teenage Men.

Half an hour later, they sat down to a meal of bread, cheese and dried fruit. All of them were scattered around the clearing in their own little groups of friends. Ivana and Elano were the only ones sitting slightly apart from the rest. They were not close enough to each other to be mistaken as friends, nor far enough to be thought of as enemies.

He watched them for a moment; then let his gaze run slowly over the class. Strange, he thought, looking closer. Linnor was not sitting with Aurél and the Azverlet twins as she usually did. In fact, he realized with increasing alarm, _she did not seem to be sitting anywhere at all_!

He leaped to his feet, upsetting the plate in his lap. "Where's Linnor?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm, "Has anyone seen Linnor?"

Everybody started talking at once. Aurél, who tended to be a little hysterical at times, promptly burst into tears. Some of them had leaped up and were about to rush out of the clearing to look for their friend, when Legolas said loudly, "_SIT DOWN!_ And stop shouting, please! There's absolutely no sense in rushing off into a forest that you know nothing about to try and find a She-Elf who could be just about anywhere. Who is Linnor's partner?"

Pilinel was her partner. He had not seen her since they had finished practicing, about half an hour ago. Legolas made arrangements as swiftly as he could.

"_None_ of you will move beyond this clearing until I return," he said, "Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now, I'm putting Celin and the Azverlet twins in charge. If any of you move a muscle out of this clearing, it is their duty to tell me. If any of them move out of this clearing, then it is you who will have that pleasure. I will be back as soon as possible. Keep yourselves alive until then."

He swung himself onto Arod and was shooting through the forest within moments.

…

"Linnor!" Legolas called, for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

He had tracked her here, into the depths of the forest, where it was so dark he had to tax his amazing Elven vision. He looked around, squinting at the darkness and the shadows of the trees.

"Linnor!" he called again, turning Arod around. The horse neighed uneasily; he did not like it here. He could sense something bad was going to happen. Legolas calmed him with a few soothing words.

Suddenly, a terrified scream split the air. Legolas leaped off the horse and with a whispered 'stay here' in Rohirric, he was running towards the source of the sound.

"LINNOR!" he shouted at the top of his voice, turning on his heel to try and locate her.

Another scream split the air. Legolas ran towards it, his heart beating fast. He pulled his twin knives out of their sheathes. Suddenly he burst through the trees into a hidden glade. He glanced around wildly, and his heart stopped when he saw Linnor, trapped between a tree and an army of spiders.

Without pausing for thought he threw himself among the spiders, and began fighting them with all his might. "Climb a tree!" he shouted to the terrified Linnor as he fought.

"I can't, sir, spiders!" she yelled back, dancing out of reach of one as she spoke.

Legolas growled in frustration and wisely decided not to waste more time talking. He slashed at the spiders with his knives, driving them back, back into their lair, which was a cave in the side of the stonewall on their left.

Finally he managed to push them all back. He did not relax until he could actually here them scuttling back to where they had come from. Then he leaned against a tree, panting heavily.

He had been bitten; he knew he had. He could feel the spiders' venom coursing through his veins. His knees gave way beneath him and he slid down the tree to a sitting position, gasping for breath.

"Are you alright, sir?" Linnor said anxiously, walking up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Fine," he lied. He drew in a deep breath and then whistled loudly for Arod. Linnor jumped and knocked against him. He fell sideways, groaning at the unexpected contact with his aching body.

"Sir?" Linnor said anxiously. "Were you bitten?"

He did not bother answering the question; instead he just curled up into a ball on the ground and screwed up his eyes against the pain. Arod came galloping into the clearing, and rubbed his cold nose against Legolas's face.

The touch revived him, and his eye snapped open as he took stock of the situation. His eyes roved the glade until they fell on a small plant at its edge. With a sigh of relief he told Linnor to get him some leaves from it. When she had done this, he stuffed all of them into his mouth and chewed, gagging at the horrible acrid taste filling his mouth.

But when he swallowed he felt better instantly. The herb was a very effective one when it came to spider venom. It worked wonders within moments. In ten minutes he was able to sit up, and in an hour he was able to stand.

Linnor had been shooting him guilty looks throughout this time. He decided not to ask her why she had gone off from the clearing thinking wisely that she had learned never to do such a thing again.

"You're not bitten, are you?" he asked her instead.

"No, sir. I…"

"Then let's go."

…

TBC…

Hey guys! My exams are FINALLY over! Got over on Monday. I could just dance. They went (amazingly) pretty well. With luck I'll get in eighties in English and History, and in seventies over all. Now I'm free for three months, so I'm all yours till this story is done.

The good thing about exams is that they always leave me REALLY inspired. I now not only know the end of this story, but I also have an extremely angsty sequel planned out. Would you believe it?

Thank you for reviewing: Deana, warrior-wolf, and Star-Stallion. Love all of you guys.

I have two questions:

This story has humor (like in the first part of the chapter), action (like in the last part), angst (some in the middle, LOADS towards the end) and maybe even a little bit of character death (I was so not supposed to give that away). The point I'm trying to make is: WHAT GENRE SHOULD I GIVE IT?

Also, do you think Legolas could marry (I say marry, not fall in love with) a really ugly woman based on her personality?

See you later, guys! Please review!


	9. You Do Care

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 9: You Do Care

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

Legolas and Linnor had been riding together for about ten minutes. It was twilight, and a light wind was blowing. Legolas scanned the sky anxiously. The clouds were growing ominously black. Rain was the last thing they needed now, he thought, pressing forward in the false hope that he could make it to the clearing before the storm began.

The horse's movement jarred his still-aching body, and he winced slightly. He reached into his pocket and took the four remaining leaves of the plant, which he'd had the foresight to carry with him, and stuffed them into his mouth. He tried to do it with as little movement as possible, so that Linnor wouldn't notice, but she did anyway, turning her upper body slightly to look at him. He gave her a reassuring look, trying to assuage the guilt in her eyes without speaking, as his mouth was full.

She was unusually perceptive for an Elfling, and her eyes widened in surprise at being forgiven. She turned back to contemplate what it might mean, giving him a strange look that quite unsettled him.

A few minutes later she broke the silence. "Sir, can I ask you something please?"

"Go ahead, Linnor," he replied in a kind tone, slowing Arod slightly so that he'd be able to hear her.

"Sir, why don't you ever demonstrate how good you are to us?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, perplexed.

"I mean, well…sir, you fought the spiders so well today."

"And?"

"Well, for the first time, sir, I was able to see you at your full potential. You used all the moves that you had taught us, and other moves that you hadn't, and with such aplomb I was able to appreciate for the first time that you truly were pivotal in the War of the Ring."

"Thank you for the flattery Linnor, but what are you really asking me?"

"I'm not flattering you, sir. I'm telling you the truth. And I'm asking you why you never show us your true potential. I'm asking you why you always partner up with Elano and never really show us how good you actually are. I'm asking why-"

"Do you forget to whom you speak to, Linnor?" he said, shocked. These were not questions he could just answer, especially when they were asked in this informal manner from one of his students.

"No sir, that is why I ask speak these things," she answered without hesitation, "You would have readily given your life for me just now. Even though it was my folly that got me into that situation, you have not even reprimanded me. I doubt you will punish me for so small a crime as being frank and open."

"It was duty that prompted those actions Linnor," he lied, "My duty as your teacher, and as a warrior is to protect you and all those unable to defend themselves. And as for the punishment, I know you will never do such a thing again, so why punish you?"

"No, sir. You cannot make me believe that, not after I've seen the expression of caring in your eyes. You care about me; you care about all of us. You would never allow us to come in harm's way, and we both know it has absolutely nothing to do with duty."

Legolas expelled the breath that he did not known he had been holding. He did care about her. He cared about everyone in his highly erratic class. But he had not wanted them to know it. Why, he wondered now, why had he not wanted it? Why did he still not want it? Why was he so reluctant to acknowledge to her what was to him, a fact? He did know how to answer himself, so he couldn't deny the truth of what Linnor had said without lying to her. And that would be to no purpose at all, for she was far too perceptive not to notice.

Instead he decided to answer her earlier question, "I partner with Elano because for one thing, he is always left without a partner if I do not. Now, with seventy-two people, I realize that is hardly a problem, but if I let him partner with any of you, you would tear the boy to bits with your harsh words. Even when _I_ fight with him, you snigger at him, without realizing the damage you do. If I allowed him to partner with others, then he would be teased unto his death."

He paused for a moment. Linnor had turned again and was looking at him with wide eyes, very surprised at the motive behind her teacher's actions. He continued, deciding that since he had said this much, he might as well say the rest.

"There is also another reason I always partner with Elano. First, if he partnered with any of you, you would show absolutely no progress. And second, you do not have the skill to fight with any less skill than is your potential. You would end up injuring him."

Linnor continued to gaze at him for a moment. "Sir," she said hesitantly, "I could partner with him sometimes. I give you my word that I would not snigger at him. And we could fight with wooden swords, so I would never be able to hurt him."

Legolas glanced at her, surprised and touched by the gesture. He knew that if he did as she said and fought his best, _he_ would end up hurting the Elflings.

But he also knew that she was right. He had to give his students more individual attention. So he accepted her offer, thanking her with heart-felt gratitude.

She turned back to face forwards then, but if he could have seen the knowing expression on her face, he would have been decidedly unsettled. If he could have seen the thoughts running through her head, he would have been thoroughly disconcerted; _he does care about us. He may try to deny it all he wants, but I know that he does care._

…

The rain had started falling in a steady drizzle when they reached the clearing where he had left his students. Legolas was pleased to see that they had had the sense to erect tents and were sheltering themselves from the rain. He leaped off Arod, and sucked in a breath as the movement sent a wave of dulled pain over his body.

He glanced at Linnor to see if she had noticed, but her face was turned away from him so he couldn't tell. He assisted her from the horse and told her to go and sleep in one of the tents that had been put up for the girls.

But already, the inhabitants of the tents had become aware of their presence and were pouring out, talking excitedly. Linnor was engulfed in a sea of her friends. With so many people around, he could not see exactly what was happening, but he did see Linnor embracing a weeping Aurél.

"I'm so sorry," the latter said with a sob. "I shouldn't have-"

"It's not your fault," Linnor interrupted her, "_I_ was the one who wandered off after the argument. You didn't, though I'd offended you as much as you'd offended me. Besides, nothing happened to me, I'm fine."

Legolas stared at her, stunned. _Fine?__ She was nearly eaten by an army of spiders, and she says she's fine?_ But he knew the reason for it almost before he could start wondering. Linnor did not want her friend to bear the burden of knowing that their argument had led up to her nearly getting killed by spiders. She did not want Aurél to feel guilty.

Legolas was surprised. It appeared he had once again underestimated his class. He had never expected an act of such selfless kindness from one of his students. _He_ would have kept the truth from Aragorn, if they had been in the same situation, but Linnor doing the same for Aurél was very unexpected.

He did not hear the rest of Linnor's conversation with Aurél or any of her friends for that matter, but he could tell that they too were asking her what she meant by 'fine'. She made light of the entire situation.

Sir found her in a clearing, she said. She knew someone would realize she was gone, so she had decided to stay put until someone came to find her. That was all.

"_Sir_ found you?" Celin said when he heard this.

"Yes, he did," Linnor replied, sending Legolas an apologetic look over the sea of people around her. She disliked the tone with which they were all talking about him. He, who had saved her life, deserved more respect than this. But she could hardly defend him and keep the secret about the spiders as well.

He nodded to show that he understood, and then turned to the rest of the class, who by now were quite drenched. He clapped his hands to get their attention. "You will all please go to your tents and change into dry things and then sleep immediately. I will take watch tonight, but from tomorrow you have to get used to doing it yourselves, in turn."

He waited till they had all gone to their tents and then posted himself at the entrance of one, gazing out at the cloudy night. His body was crying for rest, and he was feeling slightly nauseous, but he knew that his students were too tired and excitable to keep watch tonight. He leaned tiredly against the pole of the tent and shut his eyes for a few brief moments. When he opened them, he saw Linnor standing in front of him.

"What is it, Linnor? Is anything wrong?"

"Sir, let me take watch today. You are still aching from the spider attack, you need your rest more than I."

"Linnor, I have gone without sleep for days on end. I can take watch today without any trouble. It is you who require rest. Now return to your tent and sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

She walked back to her tent, and lay down at the entrance so that she could see if anything happened to him. In about fifteen minutes, when he was convinced by the silence in the tents that they were all asleep, he finally allowed himself a moment of weakness.

He moved some distance away from the tents and proceeded to throw up the remains of the poison as soundlessly as he could. When he was done, he ran a sweaty palm through his hair tiredly and returned to the tent.

Linnor, who had seen it all, frowned worriedly. She had been tempted to go and help him, but with a flash of insight she realized what this would do to his pride and decided to stay put.

As she stared after him, a thought crossed her mind, which made a hint of a triumphant smile touch her lips. Y_ou do care about us_. _Deny it all you want sir, but I know you do care_.

With that, and with the knowledge that come morning, Legolas would probably perfectly fine again; she curled up on her bedroll and went to sleep.

TBC

Moonshine44: Thank you for reviewing, as once more, you're the only one. I had decided that regardless of reviews I'd stand by this story, and your review served as extra encouragement. I agree that an Elf speaking Rohirric to a horse is pretty unusual, but Arod is from Rohan. Eomer gave him to Legolas when he, Aragorn and Gimli were hunting for Merry and Pippin. Obviously, Arod would like Rohirric better than Elvish despite the fact that he's spent quite a few years with Legolas, and Legolas, begin an Elf (and therefore the epitaph of perfection) is natural quick at tongues, so speaking in Rohirric shouldn't be a problem for him. Just thought I'd get that bit cleared up. Thanks for reviewing, I hope to hear from you again.


	10. An Unlikely Friendship

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 10: An Unusual Friendship

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

"Legolas?"

"Ivana, how many times do I have to tell you to call me 'sir'?" Legolas said with irritation.

"I'm sorry…_sir_," Ivana said, emphasizing on the word with an amused but highly disrespectful smirk. "I was merely wondering whether I could partner with Elano for this morning's practice"

"What?" Legolas said in amazement. "_You_ want to partner with Elano?"

"Yes, sir, I do."

"Well, I…if you…alright." Legolas's mind was reeling. Truth be told; he had not even thought about practice this morning. After the events of yesterday it had been very far from his mind.

He was very surprised that Ivana of all people wanted to partner with Elano. But he could hardly have said no when she asked him like that, when she wasn't even doing anything wrong.

Given how tired they all were from the previous day, he resolved that he would give them a less tiring, if more difficult task than usual. He also decided he would keep a sharp eye on Ivana and Elano and _make_ sure Ivana didn't act too mean.

When the time for practice came, Linnor shot Legolas a surprised, questioning look. She had expected that she would partner with Elano today, but now Ivana…

Legolas gave her an almost imperceptible shrug and nodded her towards Aurél. When everyone had found their usual partners, Legolas clapped for their attention.

"Today, you will be trying to shoot very small targets. I have with me-" he rummaged in one of his bags and brought out a tiny piece of cloth mounted on wood- "thirty-six of these small wooden targets. I'm going to hang them from the branches of the trees, and then I want you and your partners to figure out an unfailing method to meet small targets. You have an hour to do this. I will not be helping you, but I'll demonstrate once so you can see how it's done."

He hung one of the targets up, moved twenty paces away, aimed and shot at the target. The arrow hit it squarely in the middle. He moved forward and removed the arrow from the wood, and then proceeded to hang up the other thirty-five targets at varying distances.

He made sure that everyone was in a good position before starting and then said, "The team that is able to shoot the target get extra wafers of way bread for lunch. You may start now."

He moved slightly back so he could watch them practice. His eyes went first to Ivana and Elano. His ears strained to hear what she was saying to him.

"I already know the method, Elano, so you try first."

Legolas's eyes widened in surprise. This sort of knowledge was not at all common. He himself had learned it from his father, and he remembered how he had hit his head with his hands and stamped his feet in frustration many times before mastering it.

Elano tried and failed by a large margin to meet the target. He gave Ivana a despairing look. She stepped up to him, guided his hands and helped him aim slightly above the target. That was the trick, she told him, to aim above the target so that when the arrow flew in it's arc, it would always meet the target. After a few tries, he was able to do it but only with her assistance. She too, effortlessly, met her mark. Then she set about helping him practice it again and again, until he was able to hit the target without her help.

"Well done," she told him. Legolas watched her in amazement as she pushed the bow slightly up as he aimed it. He glanced around and noticed how nobody else had been able to do it.

His eyes flew back to Ivana and Elano, who were now leaning with one hand each on their bows and talking. This came as another surprise. Elano _never _talked to anyone, and Ivana was worse. Forget talking, she didn't even _smile_. Unless of course one counted the amused and disrespectful smirks that she sent Legolas once a day.

"So you got permission," Elano said. "Did he, you know, give you a hard time?"

"No, of course not!" she said, grinning. "He wouldn't dare!"

"Ivana, I can never understand how you can talk about sir like that, it's so…I don't know, so...cheeky."

Legolas realized with a jolt that they were talking about how Ivana had asked his permission to partner with Elano. He stared hard at Elano; seeing that the boy was speaking to Ivana in a way that he had never spoken to anyone before. He glanced at Ivana, straining his ears to hear what she was saying.

"You shouldn't be so afraid of him, Elano. He's hardly going to eat you up. I can't imagine why you made me ask him for permission, when all this was your idea in the first place-" Legolas let out a quickly stifled gasp at this- "and you're the one who wanted a change of partner."

Legolas was hurt.

"I'm not afraid of him, Ivana," Elano said softly, "I know he would never hurt me. But I respect him to a frightening degree, which makes saying these things difficult. I don't think you respect him at all though."

"No, I don't, Elano," Ivana said with a heavy sigh. "But I have good reason not to."

Elano's eyes widened slightly, but he, like Legolas sensed that Ivana was done talking and therefore said nothing. He turned towards the target, walked towards it and removed the arrow sticking out and proceeded to aim it at the target. He did not meet it dead center, but was able to at least get one edge and that for Elano was a huge achievement.

Ivana retrieved the arrow and aimed for the target too. The arrow met it dead center.

Legolas glanced at the position of the sun, and saw that the hour was up. He moved forward, clapping his hands to get the attention of his students. He made each team demonstrate the progress they had made, and found that excluding Ivana and Elano, it was nil.

A little more talking and a few more demonstrations later, he declared Elano and Ivana to be the winners. For once his students did not grudge him for his choice, as both were clearly the best. He told them to get ready for lunch, as it was now to late for breakfast, and walked some distance away where he could think about what he had just heard.

…

Apparently, Elano and Ivana had managed to become friends in their time together on the horse. Their friendship had taken him by surprise, but when he thought about it he realized it was understandable. Both were quiet, friendless, possibly lonely and very mature for their years. No wonder they got along like a house on fire.

What disturbed Legolas more was the fact that Elano appeared to be frightened and wary of him. He had given Elano kind words and guidance, shielded him from hard words and given as much sympathy as would go unnoticed by the class. Yet the Elfling was more than ready to give him up for Ivana.

Legolas could not understand it. Why did the boy dislike him so much? _Wait_, he realized, _he does not dislike me. He respects me to a 'frightening degree.' He knows I would never hurt him, he said so. I have behaved understandingly. Too understandingly. _

Legolas resolved then and there that he would cease to spoon feed Elano from that day onwards and allow him to pick his own partners. It was the only way he could redeem the mistake he had made. He wished he'd realized sooner that it was a mistake, but at least he could now do his best to set things right.

His other more pressing problem was Ivana. What reason had he ever given her to disrespect him?

He mused on that for sometime, before realizing that there was no point. Ivana was a paradox. She was kind, or she would not have borne with Elano the way she had. Yet she acted uppity, smirked at people who did not deserve it, and refused to respect her teacher. There was no point in trying to figure out such a hopeless case. If she thought he had given her reason not to respect him, then there was nothing he could do about it.

…

Finally resolved on all these issues, Legolas strode back to his students in slightly higher spirits. His happiness was short-lived however, when he discovered that they had not prepared for lunch at all. Instead they all seemed to have changed into fresh _clothes_.

"Why have you all changed?" Legolas asked, fearing the answer.

"You told us to get ready for lunch sir."

"I told you- oh, no. No, no. I didn't mean for you to change, I meant for you to gather some firewood. Why would I want you to change?"

A slightly stunned silence greeted his words.

He sighed, shaking his head, and bade them all to go and gather some logs of wood. Within minutes they were all arriving back with the wettest, most unwieldy logs he had ever seen. He groaned and asked them in scathing tones how they expected him to light a fire with wet logs of wood.

They trudged off sullenly and after more searching brought back some logs that were a little less damp. With some difficulty he managed to get a fire going. Then he proceeded to take some salted meat from his provisions and hack it to pieces. He roasted them over the fire and gave them to his students to eat.

But Elano refused to touch it. "I don't eat meat, sir," he said with surprising obstinacy.

"You don't what?" Legolas said in disbelief.

"I don't eat meat sir."

"But…why not?"

"I cannot live with the knowledge that I am advocating the killing of animals by eating any form of a live being." He glared at his teacher to show that when he believed in something he stood up to it without fear of opposition. Even if the opposition was a hoard of crazy teenagers and the Crown Prince of Mirkwood.

Legolas was amazed. He knew Elano believed in peace, but he had not supposed that it was to this extent. He asked, "Then what are you going to do on this hunting trip? If you do not kill animals, what will you do?"

"I will not kill animals, sir, but I can tend any hurt or wounded."

"There will be no hurt or wounded as long as I can help it, Elano. If you do not want to kill the animals, then I have provisions for you, which you'll still be able to eat. But keep this in mind: If you cannot bring yourself to kill animals, how will you ever be able to kill anything in the army?"

Legolas could see that he had struck a nerve. Elano paled slightly and clenched his fists. But other than this, he showed no reaction.

"I will not eat meat sir," he insisted, and that was that.

…

TBC…

Hello, long time since I updated, I know I'm sorry.

I know none of you like Ivana much, but I needed to bring her back into the story again, as she plays quite an important role in the end. And Elano's important too. You all like him, I know.

Just to clarify, I myself am non-veg, but I wish I could quit. It really is awful to feel that you're killing so many animals by eating meat. So I have nothing against non-vegetarians.

Thank you to my reviewers: Love Like a Rose (thanks!), Star-Stallion (hope you get the alert this time), and lindahoyland (thanks for reviewing). I think that's all. If there's anyone else, please forgive me for not mentioning you, I'm very sleepy. Good night.


	11. Elano's Admission and Celin's Revenge

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 11: Elano's Admission and Celin's revenge.

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

Legolas was worried. They had reached Mirkwood's borders a day ago and he was planning to divide them into groups and start hunting the very next day. He had set up camp near a largish stream well outside Mirkwood's borders, revised lessons, and made sure everything was ready. But Elano wasn't ready.

He had been doing very badly in the last two practices, even though Ivana was still his partner. Legolas thought back to the conversation he had overheard and sighed. He had thought that if he left Elano alone, things would be better. They were worse.

When his archery lesson was over, he addressed the class for a couple of minutes, telling them to take it in turns to keep night watches in pairs. He chose Elgalad and Pilinel to do this the first half of the night and the Azverlet twins to do the second, and then dismissed the class.

"Elano," he said before the boy could leave. "I'd like to have a word with you. Alone," he added when he saw Ivana glance at him. "Don't worry, I won't eat you up," he smiled slightly in the hope of lessening the apprehension on Elano's face.

The boy turned red and muttered something under his breath that could have been anything from denial to apology. They both waited till the students had gone away to a sufficient distance.

Legolas took a deep breath and then plunged into the conversation headlong, "I'm beginning to seriously worry about you, Elano. Tomorrow, the hunting starts, and then everyone will find out that you do not intend to hunt. No one can force you to hunt animals. No one can force you to kill Men, or Dwarves or Halflings. That isn't what this army is about. But I wish to ask you whether you can bring yourself to kill orcs."

Elano said in a weak, unconvincing voice, "I can."

Legolas read the exact opposite in his tone. His heart sank and he sighed. "No you can't. I can tell from your voice."

Elano gave him a wretched look, but still insisted, "I can, sir."

Legolas shook his head, "You could never bring yourself to kill any living being."

Elano was about to argue, but he realized that this was pointless. "I couldn't sir, ever," he admitted finally, his voice full of self-loathing. "And I'm beginning to hate myself for it."

"There's no reason to hate yourself," Legolas said gently, "There's nothing wrong with being unable to kill someone. But there are some things worth fighting for. I thought you would have known that by now, especially since your father…"

"My father died in battle in December," Elano said, allowing only a small tremor to shake his voice, "He was taken by orcs, yes. But he could just as well have died at the hands of Men, and Dwarves and even an exceptional Elf. He could have died at the hands of anyone who had anything against him. Not only orcs."

Legolas stared at him, aghast at his idealism. "How can you be so naïve?" he said, before he could stop himself. "Are you seriously saying that Men and dwarves are as bad as orcs?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying they can be."

Legolas looked at him with anger and helplessness. _What am I supposed to do with him?_ "Orcs live to kill others!" he said, struggling to control his ire, "It's their life. Men and dwarves have a purpose in life that goes beyond that. Did you not see what the orcs did to your father!"

"They put an arrow through his heart." Elano said harshly, "A Man could have done the same."

Legolas was once more floored. "Your father was lucky," he said when he had found his tongue. "Most people who encounter orcs die slow, painful deaths."

"I've heard that. People say it all the time. But people say many things. Can any of them be true?"

Legolas, who had been about to leave, turned on his heel and said with a tired sigh, "What is true and what is not true, you will see in good time," he said tightly, "I just hope that you'll be ready to give up some of your idealistic views then."

He walked away and a wave of regret passed over him. He wished it could have been otherwise, but he knew that if there was no change in Elano by the time they returned to Mirkwood he would have no choice but to remove him from his class. Permanently.

…

Celin had been behaving oddly since they had started on the hunting trip. He had continued to remain angry with Legolas ever since he had drawn attention to his weak ankle. He was also angry that Ivana, his one true match among the students was now paired with Elano. He would keep shooting him sour looks.

Legolas _had_ noticed this, but had dismissed it as a phase Celin was going thorough. "Let's all hate our teacher," he'd muttered under his breath with a wry smile, "Though only the Valar knows if it'll do any good."

But lately, Celin had been behaving more angry than usual. Legolas did not realize it, but he was doing everything in his power to prove himself a capable soldier. He was fighting with all his skill every lesson, and the results were certainly showing, but Legolas did not take proper notice of them because he was too occupied with Ivana, Elano, Linnor and spiders. This was very frustrating to Celin, who knew nothing of the spider incident.

Matters came to a head when he called them together that night and divided them into groups, telling them which ones would go first, who was in charge, when they would accompany him, and how they were never to go into Mirkwood's borders alone. Legolas consciously made sure that Celin would always be near him, so that he could always be sure he was safe. But this also served to make the boy feel helpless, angry and rebellious. And when he found out that Elano did not intend to hunt, he very nearly flew into a rage because he saw this as favoritism on Legolas's part.

The boy began to plot a revenge on his teacher. None of his ideas were meant to be dangerous, merely irritating, but this did not prevent Legolas from feeling irritated when he woke on the morning of the hunt to find honey in his boots, his cloak sewed up in rough, unladylike stitches so that he couldn't wear it, and his clothes disappearing right after a dip in the stream.

He was saved from this last situation when Elano came by the stream for _his_ bath and lent him some clothes. He had a good idea of who was playing all these pranks but he decided that he could avoid confrontation by using more caution. As long as Celin didn't do anything seriously dangerously, Legolas was willing to let the pranks go at face value. He did _not_ want to have another argument with Celin, because it could well turn out to become a showdown.

To make matters worse, he discovered that both Elgalad and Pilinel had fallen asleep during the night. He gave them both a firing, and then packed them off with a number of odd jobs to do around the camp. But it made him realize that he could never trust the Elflings to keep awake the entire night, so _he_ would have to keep awake each night as back up. It would mean he would not get a wink of sleep till Aragorn arrived, and he was _not_ looking forward to that.

His only consolation that entire day was that the hunt went fairly well. Ivana managed to get a hare and a deer, Celin got a rabbit, and he himself managed to get two deer. When he and the students reached camp after the hunt, all the other students surrounded them, bombarding them with all manner of questions, ranging from the method of hunting a deer to Legolas's 'strict' behavior throughout the trip.

Legolas allowed them five minutes of this, then called them together and taught them how to skin the animals, cut them in pieces, and roast the pieces on a fire. To his surprise, they were able to grasp all this knowledge with a moderate amount of ease; indeed what they did not understand was the simplest thing of all, how to light a fire.

The achievement of this last feat took up a great deal of time, and Legolas had to demonstrate how to use a flint at least fifty times before all the fires were lit up. During this time, he lost track of Elano, but later when he looked up he saw the boy sitting quietly to one side with tears rolling down his cheeks.

His heart wrenched, he had forgotten in the excitement of the day how terrible it must be for peace-loving Elano to see for the first time the blood of animals. He did not have long to worry about this however, because Ivana too had noticed Elano's distress at the same time as he had. She abandoned her fire, and walked swiftly toward Elano, put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Without saying anything, he got up and allowed himself to be led to some far off corner of the camp.

Legolas allowed Ivana to go, moving in to tend her fire. Nobody noticed that either of them was gone, or that Legolas was tending Ivana's fire. He thought that he could trust them enough to not wander off alone. Well. He could trust Elano. And as long as Ivana was with him, he could trust her as well.

…

When they had just sat down to a slightly burnt dinner, Elano arrived, red-eyed and dragging his feet. Ivana was just behind him. Without saying anything to either of them, he handed Elano a plate of fruit and cheese and Ivana a plate of meat. The boy nodded his thanks, looking up into Legolas's eyes to show that he did not hold anything against him. _I respect your views_, his eyes seemed to say, and Legolas was both moved and surprised by this.

After dinner, all of them lay down to sleep. Legolas stayed in a semi-awake state which allowed him to be aware of everything around him. This would have served his purpose quite well, but he was so tired from the long day, that he drifted into a doze without meaning to.

He jerked awake suddenly when a panicked shout reached his ears. He swore under his breath and leapt to his feet, staring around wildly to find the source of the noise. His heart clouded with foreboding when he saw that all the children were gathered at the deep end of the stream.

When he reached them, he gave a horrified gasp and instantly started peeling off his tunic. Celin was in the stream…and he was being pulled down by the current…he was drowning. But even before Legolas could get his clothes off, he heard another splash. When he saw who had jumped in to save Celin, his jaw nearly dropped.

"Wait, Elano!" he cried out in alarm, but Elano was already swimming with powerful strokes to the spot where Celin had just sunk.

…

TBC…

Many thanks to kind reviewers!


	12. Many Surprises

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 12: Many Surprises

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

Legolas watched in amazement as Elano swam with strong, graceful strokes towards a half-drowned Celin. _How did the boy know? _He thought in disbelief, _children never learnt!_ He watched, frozen to the spot as Elano dove down into the water and disappeared from view.

A few agonizingly slow moments later, his dark head bobbed up again, and he had gripped in his arms the sandy-haired Celin, who was by now almost unconscious. Elano was thin and weak-looking with no muscles to speak off, so Legolas leapt in to the current to help him bring Celin to shore.

He gasped as the current pulled at him; it was really much stronger than it looked. He swam doggedly against it, until he reached Elano, and with his help they managed to bring Celin back to sure shore. By the time they had succeeded in this grueling process, Legolas's muscles were screaming in protest, and Celin was unconscious.

The moment they were on land, Elano leaped to his feet, adrenaline dulling the exhaustion in his own muscles. He immediately began to pump Celin's chest hard, and Legolas was once again momentarily floored by the Elfling possessing this knowledge. Children were taught very, very, rarely.

He jumped forward and began to pump Celin's arms and legs as well, until he coughed and vomited water from his mouth. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, both of them leaned back slightly, tired and panting.

By this time, all the other students were gathered around them. Legolas put a hand to Celin's head, and found that it was icy cold. It took enormous self-control to keep him from swearing aloud. The river water was not very cold at that time of year, so the only other explanation was shock.

"Get blankets," he and Elano said at almost exactly the same moment, "Quickly."

As everyone scampered to get blankets, Legolas glanced at Elano, who was checking Celin's pulse. He was amazed by the way he seemed to know exactly what to do for Celin and when to do it. If he wasn't so young, Aragorn himself could have called him a good healer.

A moment later, when the blankets arrived, Legolas swathed Celin in them and lifted him up to take him to the tents. When he was safely tucked away in his own, separate tent, Legolas could breathe a little easier. He touched the Elfling's head again, and was dismayed to find that it was still cold.

Just then, Elano burst into the tent carrying a small bag of what looked like herbs and healing draughts. Until then, Legolas had not even noticed that he had gone. His eyes widened in surprise and alarm as Elano began to mix the medicines together in carefully measured quantities.

"What do you think you're doing?" Legolas asked.

"I'm mixing a warming draught for him, sir. It will help against the shock."

"Are you certain you know what you are doing?" Legolas said, still hesitating despite the confidence in Elano's voice.

"I told you that if anyone got hurt, I'd be able to care for them, and I wasn't talking through my hat," was the firm reply.

Legolas watched silently as Elano poured a few drops of alcohol into the mixture and then began to crush dried peppers. He was feeling completely helpless because he did not know much about healing at all. Life as a soldier demanded knowing rudimentary first aid measures, but against this sort of thing, he was perfectly useless.

He knew he should not let an Elf of sixteen winters play with the life of another, but he had no other choice. He heard a soft rustling at the entrance of the tent and groaned when he realized all the other students were watching. They would think of him in a bad light for trusting Elano more than he trusted them.

Any relationship he might have had with them had come; it seemed, abruptly to an end. He shook his head resignedly; he could never win against these block-headed children.

Elano finished making the mixture, and poured it down Celin's throat. He sat back on his haunches, shivering slightly as a cool breeze blew over his wet clothes.

Legolas noticed this, and handed him a cloak; the same one Elano had leant to him the previous morning. "I don't need you to fall ill too," he said.

Elano smiled but put the cloak on. "Elves don't fall ill, sir," he said.

"Well, I'm not taking any chances."

Though it was a tight fit in the small tent, they remained there until Celin's temperature had gone up and his pulse had steadied.

Then Legolas ducked out and said to the crowd of anxious children surrounding his tent, "Celin will be on his way to recovery by tomorrow. Please go to your tents and get some rest."

Outraged shouts met this proposal, but Legolas was adamant, "Tomorrow there will be no hunting," he shouted over the din, "No one is to go towards the stream during the night. If you require water, go and drink it now while I am watching."

A few of them went and drank from the stream and Legolas watched to see that they didn't do anything dangerous. He ignored all the anxious questions put to him by Celin's friends, and said again and again, "He is recovering; he merely requires rest."

He could tell that they were all displeased that he had once again given his trust to Elano and not them. But it was unintentional; didn't any of them _see_ that? He glowered to himself in the darkness.

Fifteen minutes later, he had managed to coax all of them into their respective tents, though judging by then noise level in the camp, not one of them were asleep. He ducked again into the tent, and affirmed that Celin was well.

He beckoned quietly to Elano, and went outside so he could ask him some questions. His mind was still reeling from the fact that Elano knew how to swim and save drowning people.

"How do you know how to swim?" he asked.

"My father taught me, Elano answered.

"So early?" Legolas said incredulously.

They both knew that Elves were usually not taught how to swim until they became of age, because it would ensure that Elves would keep their Elflings away from water. It was something his father had suggested half a century ago, when an Elfling who was supposed to be good at swimming, had drowned to death.

It was all in the list of the "Directive Principles of the Policies of Mirkwood". These guidelines were almost as good as rules; except that when broken, they were not punishable by law. But this was because they were very, very rarely broken.

"My sister drowned a few years after my birth," Elano said, "So my parents thought it best if I learnt to swim, so the same could not happen easily to me."

Legolas suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of pity. Elano's life already seemed to be a litany of losses, something that no child should have to face.

He did not want the perceptive Elano to read this emotion, so instead of offering sympathies he asked, "And healing? Where did you learn that?"

"My mother taught me. She's a healer, and she trained me in the healing arts."

"She taught you well then," Legolas said, trying to conceal the fact that he was very surprised that one so young could learn so much in his lifetime. "You did well today."

"Thank you, sir," Elano said, looking gratified.

There was a short pause, and then Legolas noticed that Elano was looking exhausted. "Go to your tent and get some rest," he said, "And don't bother waking up early, for there will be no practice tomorrow, or hunting. You've all had a tiring day."

"Yes, sir, I'll do that. Thank you," Elano said, smiling and nodding at his teacher before leaving.

Legolas settled against the pole of his tent and sighed. His body ached form the hard swim, and he was exhausted, too tired even to change out his wet clothes. Yet he could not allow himself the luxury of sleep, especially after what had happened. He was angry with himself for drifting off. If he hadn't, he might have been able to prevent this.

He shut his eyes, knowing that if there was one way of keeping awake, it was this. Again and again, images of Celin drowning played themselves on his closed eyelids. He did not open his eyes; he wanted to see those images, wanted to punish himself for falling asleep.

When he was completely engrossed in terrible images, he felt something warm on his shoulders. His eyes opened, and he turned to find Linnor standing behind him. She had put a cloak on his shoulders.

"I thought you were asleep, sir, so I thought I'd just put that over you…" she stammered out an explanation.

"There is no need, Linnor, you can have the cloak," he said, touched that she had thought of him in all the confusion. He held out the cloak to her. "Thank you for offering, though."

"But sir, you're soaking wet!"

"Elves don't catch cold, Linnor," he reminded her, suppressing a smile as he thought of how he had had the same conversation with Elano just a little while ago, "Besides, you need it for tomorrow."

"No sir, it's a spare," she said, blushing slightly when she remembered that the list of clothes to be brought for the trip had included only one cloak.

"I truly don't need it, thank you. I have my own cloak," Legolas insisted, reaching for his bag to prove his point.

"No, you don't have your own cloak, sir. Have you forgotten that Celin stitched it up?"

"I…" Legolas began, but stopped as he realized what she was saying. "I did forget," he said numbly, "But…are you sure Celin did it?" It was one thing to have very sure suspicions, but for Linnor to actually accuse…?

"Yes, sir, I saw him. And I wouldn't have told you if I wasn't sure that you knew yourself," she added hastily to clarify that she was no tell-tale."You did know, didn't you?"

Legolas nodded, "I had my suspicions."

"Keep the cloak, sir," Linnor said softly, turning to leave.

"No, wait," Legolas said, deciding he may as well ask her some questions, "Do you know what exactly happened to Celin? I mean, do you know why he fell into the stream?"

"Sir, he was trying to soak someone's shirt in the water, and he slipped on some moss."

Legolas had a very good idea who that 'someone' was. He sighed slightly and dismissed Linnor with his thanks. Then he went to his bag and began to check his belongings.

Sure enough, one of his shirts was missing. He sighed, once again angry with himsel. If he had confronted Celin earlier, instead of letting the matter pass, maybe he could have prevented this from happening. Now he had to confront him anyway.

He shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if Elano didn't know how to swim, or if he himself had not arrived when he did, or...

His mind wheeled on, shaping disasters which involved five or six people getting killed. With these thoughts in his head, he found it fairly easy to keep awake that night.

…

TBC…

Many thanks to kind reviewers!


	13. Forging a Relationship

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 13: Forging a Relationship

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

It was just after dawn when Celin finally awoke. He opened his eyes groggily, and stared around. Then the fact that he had just opened his eyes registered in his mind. He jerked awake in alarm, _why had his eyes been closed in the first place?_

He glanced around curiously; he was lying in an unfamiliar tent, and was that _sir _sitting at the entrance?

"Sir?" he tried to say, but all that came out was a croak.

Legolas jumped at the noise, and was instantly at Celin's side when he saw that he was awake.

"Are you thirsty?" was his first question.

The boy managed a nod. Legolas rushed out of the tent at top speed and returned half a second later with a mug of water, which he held to his lips.

After Celin's thirst was quenched, he asked in bewilderment, "Why am I here, sir?"

"You nearly drowned yesterday," Legolas replied, "Don't you remember?"

"I…" Celin hesitated. He _did_ remember. He remembered sneaking into this very tent and taking one of Legolas's shirts. He remembered going down to the stream to soak it. He remembered slipping and falling into the terrifying water, with its strong current and its terrifying depth. And he remembered the darkness eating at the corners of his mind…confused shouting…a splash…and then darkness.

Legolas read his expression and nodded grimly, "You remember. You went off to soak my shirt in the water and you slipped and fell."

Celin stared at him, dismayed to find that he knew about this. He did not know what to say. A twinge of guilt harassed his mind, but he pushed it away at once. This teacher was like a monster disguised as an Elf, he had no reason to feel guilty!

They sat in hostile silence for awhile, and then Celin said loudly, "I am ready to take whatever punishment you give me, sir."

But Legolas shook his head, "You've learnt already. You won't play thoughtless pranks on people anymore. You nearly paid for that with your life. You don't _need_ a punishment to teach you that."

Celin was rendered speechless by his kindness. His teacher…was _not_ a monster disguised as an Elf? He stared hard at him, and finally saw with a flash of insight what Linnor had seen some days ago, and what Elano had known from his first day in the class.

Legolas would never punish him. He was too concerned about him to even think of meting out any punishments. He had been badly frightened by what had happened and if Celin had died he would have grieved as much as any of his friends.

_If he had died._ Celin felt a chill run down his spine when he thought about this. But…why hadn't he died? Why wasn't he already dead? He sat up suddenly, and put a hand to his chest, which pained him with the sudden movement.

"Lie down," Legolas said firmly, "Before you do yourself a greater injury. Does your chest hurt?"

Ignoring both the order and the question, Celin asked, "Who saved me? How did I get out of the water alive?"

"Elano saved you," Legolas answered, "He swam to you, pulled you out and used revival techniques."

Celin gaped at him, "_Elano?_ By _himself_? _How does he know how to swim?_"

"He was taught," Legolas answered, "And no, he didn't do it by himself, I assisted him." Legolas said it lightly, but there was no way Clein could miss the significance.

"You…saved my life," he said, in an awed voice.

"Elano did too," Legolas reminded him uncomfortably.

Celin did not seem to hear. His eyes filled with sudden tears, which amazed Legolas more than his next words.

"I beg forgiveness for all this, sir," he said unsteadily, "I always knew you were right about my ankle, but I never wanted to believe it. So I tried to prove that I could be in the army, but when I couldn't, I had my revenge on you. I am…very sorry."

"It doesn't matter," Legolas said, so touched that he abandoned all pretense of being strict and uncaring. "As long as there are no hard feelings between us from now onward. I think your weak ankle is a shame, because you are one of the best fighters in the class, nearly as good as Ivana." This was high praise and they both knew it. Celin looked at Legolas with shining eyes.

Legolas thought that the one who deserved most credit was Elano, but he could not steer the conversation in that direction, because Celin began pouring out everything he'd been feeling for the last few days, and apologizing again and again and again for all that he had done, till Legolas was tired of reassuring him.

He was pleased that Celin had so much goodness hidden inside him; that he had a strong enough character to swallow his pride and be so honest. He would never have believed it of him, for the boy had never shown the slightest inclination towards soul searching before. _These children will never stop surprising me._

He was also pleased that he had managed to build a relationship with one of the class leaders. It would no doubt raise the other students' opinions of him. Just as he was thinking how pleasant this could be, Elano interrupted him by bursting into the tent with his bag of herbs.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed, without even a glance in Legolas's direction, "Does your chest hurt?"

Legolas saw in Celin's eyes the same awe which he had seen some minutes ago, "You saved my life," he said softly, the same way he had to Legolas, "I can never repay you enough."

Elano went scarlet. Wordlessly, Legolas rose and left his tent, giving the two a few minutes to talk and sort things out. There had never been any love lost between them, and Legolas knew there was a lot of apologizing to do on Celin's part, for the boy had always taunted Elano during class when he got the chance.

He never knew what they said to each other, but when he went back to the tent half an hour later, both of them were talking as if they had been friends all their lives. He smiled widely, things were finally beginning to clear up a bit. With luck, the others would view him the same way Celin did, as someone who cared very deeply for all of his class.

…

But alas this last wish of Legolas's was not meant to be, as Celin found when he was able to get up. He was most interested in gossiping about Elano and his being able to swim and heal people, and the surprise of Legolas not punishing him at all; but the moment he started talking about these, all his friends would close up completely and change the subject.

Apparently, they were all peeved with Legolas for being non-committal about his recovery and allowing Elano to heal him, and not even allowing them to see him. No matter how Celin tried to make them see that those two were the ones responsible for his being there that day, they brushed it aside, and very soon the Elfling began to understand how hard his teacher's position must be.

_Are we really as block-headed as all that,_ he wondered in disbelief, _that he must prove to each of us individually how much he cares about us, before we believe it?_ He saw now the wall that Legolas was up against, and how he would never be able to break it without cooperation from the students' side, which he wasn't getting.

While he was brooding over this, the ever perceptive Linnor came up to him and said in his ear, "He is very kind, you're not the only one who thinks so. I believe he'd give his life for any of us without a thought. He saved my life too, that day when I got lost. He saved me from spiders and nearly died because of it."

She was gone the next moment, leaving him with more questions than answers. Something told him that she did not want him to say anything about what she had told him, so he didn't, merely feeling relieved that he wasn't the only person apart from Elano who respected and admired Legolas.

From the next day, the hunting started again, and things began to settle into a normal routine. Celin was now one of Elano's few friends, and this made him an enemy of the class. Pretty soon, he became known as 'one of the Ivana Group', which irritated him, because he still disliked her very much, and was only ever around her for Elano's sake.

Thankfully for Elano, none of the class knew that it was against Mirkwood's policies to learn swimming before coming of age, and therefore, though very surprised that he could swim, they did not have the same amazement that had been Legolas's. For once the teacher thanked the Valar that none of the Elflings were given to politcs. He knew things would have gotten very difficult for Elano if they had known.

Celin didn't know either, thank goodness. If he had, the boy would have worshipped Elano from the bottom of his heart, seeing him not only as a life-saver, but also as a fellow rule-breaker. As it was, the two were thick as thieves together.

Legolas did not want Elano to become influenced by Celin, who was very much given to rule-breaking. But he needn't have worried. Celin was much subdued by his near-death experience, and he was now so much disliked by everyone else in the class for his choice of friends, that he had ceased to be a leader. So even if bad ideas occurred to him, he did not have enough encouragement to carry them out.

Legolas was very disappointed by the shallowness of his class. He had hoped that Celin would make things better, but he was getting more hostility now than ever, for his 'blatant favoritism'. But then, he realized, they weren't _really_ shallow. They were just too hung up on their views to let them go.

Even despite everything, he still admired the way they all helped each other regardless of likes and dislikes, how they were all eager to learn and in most cases, quick as well. His liking for them was very much like how parents love their child. No matter what their faults were, he forgave every one of them, only pulling them up during class when they made mistakes.

…

TBC…

Thank you for reviewing!


	14. Another Discovery

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 14: Another Discovery

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

The days crawled by. Soon, everyone except Elano knew how to hunt an animal and cook it properly. Celin had asked Elano why he did not hunt, and was so amazed by the answer that the two had long, but friendly debates about the matter. Elano himself had developed a stronger stomach now, and was able to stand conversing about his views with out gagging and feeling sick at certain gory descriptions that Celin was rather given to on occasion.

But as his class began to get better and better at hunting and fighting, Legolas began feeling more and more tired. A week went by, yet he did not sleep. He could not wait to meet Aragorn in another two weeks; then perhaps he might get a little bit sleep. In the meantime, he grew tired, irritable and snappy, and every little thing grated on his nerves. His temper was never fully in control.

The other students found out that he never slept, and they all resented him even more for not trusting them enough to take watch. Only four of them guessed at the real reason for his doing this, and Celin began feeling very guilty every time he caught sight of his teacher's pinched, drawn face, with the horrible dark circles under his eyes.

But there was nothing anyone could do about this, because no matter how much Celin, Elano and Linnor urged, begged and even ordered Legolas to sleep, he would not be moved from his resolution. _No one is ever going to be harmed because of my laxness again,_ he thought grimly, _not even over my dead body._

…

"Two! One! Five!" Legolas shouted in rapid succession. He was in the middle of a sparring lesson. He had given numbers to each of the moves he had taught that day and he was throwing them randomly at the students to see how well they knew them.

"Two! Nine! Four! _Four_, Celin, to the right! Seven! Four! Five…good...five! Don't stop, keep going. You'll have your break in a few minutes. Seven! Nine! One! _One_! ONE!"

The children stopped fighting to see why Legolas was shouting 'one' again and again. They exchanged looks when they saw that it was Ivana at fault.

"You're always getting confused between one and two," he was saying, "You always fight so well, this is the third time you've made that mistake today. Elano, switch partners; perhaps Ivana will be able to remember the moves when she's up against Celin."

When everyone was in place, Legolas resumed shouting again "Four! Nine! Two! TWO! _Not one, Ivana!_ What's gotten into you today?"

"I'm not that good at numbers," Ivana said, with a defiant smile that made Legolas's blood boil, "I didn't know one had to be, to learn how to wield a sword."

"Take that insolent look of your face, young lady," Legolas said, seething. To his surprise the smile broadened and changed to amusement, instead of disappearing. "I've told you time and again to call me 'sir'," he sighed in irritation, "But you seem to make your own rules. And whatever you may think, it is not amusing when you pretend not to know things that you obviously do!"

"Well I don't believe in this form of fighting, sir," the girl said, suddenly in earnest, "I don't believe that battle should be orchestrated like this; I think you should allow us to choose the order of the moves, as long as we stick to those you have taught us today."

"Well, Ivana, I happen to be the teacher here," Legolas said, about to scold her some more, but then deciding against it, "And I have no reason to justify myself to you, but I will tell you that not everyone here has the skill here to actually go thorough a spontaneous sparring match without hurting themselves. You however, do have that skill, if I'm to speak very honestly. And, unless I'm very much mistaken Celin does too. Maybe the two of you would care to demonstrate the metal you're made off?"

Celin looked a little worried, but Ivana shook her curls back from her face. "As you wish, sir," she said, with a hint of a smirk.

The two of them took their positions, and began sparring. It was a pleasure to watch them. Both of them had some skill with the blade. Ivana knew her moves like the back of her hand, but Celin was faster and stronger than she was. They were evenly matched; and neither was able to best the other easily.

The sparring would have gone on for a long time, had it not been interrupted by the arrival of two Elven riders who burst from the thick foliage of Mirkwood suddenly taking everyone by surprise. They were wearing the traditional clothing of Mirkwood messengers, and they seemed to be riding right up to Legolas. Legolas watched them with apprehension, hoping they were not bringing bad news from home.

But when he saw their irritated expressions, his fears fell away. They would not be irritated, but depressed, if the news was bad. He stepped up to the riders, who dismounted and bowed low before him.

"What brings you, good Lords?" he asked, instinctively on his most royal behavior.

"We hope we are not interrupting, sire, but we bring letters from Mirkwood"

Legolas's furrowed his brows in puzzlement. "Letters?" he said in surprise, "But the King would not…"

"No sire, they are not from the King," the other explained, "They are from the families of the Elflings."

Both were clearly very irritated that they had had to come all the way from their homes at the whim of some anxious mothers who were evidently having trouble letting the birds fly from their nests.

"Very well," Legolas said to the Elven riders, "Give the letters to me and to me, and I'll hand them out."

The rider took off a large bag from his horse and handed it to Legolas. It was heavy.

Legolas turned to the watching Elflings and said, "Put away your swords and return soon. We will dismiss today's lesson early, but all of you must write back to your families _within_ one hour." He knew how slow the girls were sometimes.

"But sir," somebody said, "We don't have any parchment, or any quills to write with."

Legolas gazed at him, wondering what to do. He did not have any parchment either.

One of the riders found the solution to the problem, "Sire, we have brought quills and ink and parchment with us. We foresaw this situation."

Legolas heaved a sigh of relief, "Then please hand it all out, good Lords. You may as well stay until they've written their replies. You are free to make yourselves at home."

He began sifting through the letters, spreading them about him so that it would be easier for him to hand out. When the excited Elflings returned from putting their swords away, there was a sudden rush for the letters which astonished both the messengers considerably.

But by now Legolas was used to the ways of his class, and he only had to raise his voice a little to get them to sit down. He began handing them out, smiling as the eager hands snatched them from his hands and tore the envelopes open quickly.

Much to Legolas's relief, Elano got a letter from his mother, and his face flushed joyfully as he read it. He was, for once, not subject to anybody's jeering, because he had received a letter just like they had. But Legolas's face darkened when he finished handing out the letters.

He had counted them, and there were seventy-one. _Seventy-one._ Someone had not received a letter. He looked around to find who the person was, wondering how their letter got misplaced, expecting to see tears and sulks on the person's face. He got neither of them.

His eyes settled on Ivana who was passing quills, paper and ink to those near her. There was no letter clutched in her hands or on her laps, yet she did not allow any emotions show on her face. Her face was blank and expressionless and her eyes were the same frigid blue. But when she looked up, she met his eyes for a moment, and the same pain flitted across them, which he had seen months ago on his first day.

Once again he felt something stir within him, as if a memory buried deep inside his past was fighting to resurface. But before he could think about what it meant, Ivana hastily averted her eyes and left the clearing gracefully. Her beautiful face was once again cold and impassive, and her eyes could have frozen a Balrog into place.

…

Legolas was not the only person who noticed that Ivana had not received a letter. Elano did too, and he was wondering what to do about it. Just as Legolas was figuring out a way of asking the Elven messengers to excuse him, Elano whispered something in Celin's ear. Celin frowned, stared after Ivana's retreating back, and muttered something back.

Elano handed his letter to Celin for safekeeping, and got up and went in the same direction as Ivana. A few minutes later, Legolas followed too, not realizing that Elano had already gone after her.

Ivana was sitting under a tree with Elano, and to Legolas's astonishment, she had the same hard expression on her face. He had expected that she had come here to break down; after all, her pained blue eyes had spoken volumes; but instead she was as cold as she normally was when she talked to anybody apart from Elano.

Elano was apparently undaunted by this, and from his cover in a thicket of trees, Legolas heard him come straight to the point, "Why didn't you get a letter from home, Ivana?"

"Who would send _me_ a letter, Elano?" Ivana replied tonelessly; staring into the distance.

"Your mother?" Elano asked in amazement. Legolas too was quite astounded.

"Dead," she said stonily.

"Father?" Elano asked hopefully.

Ivana faltered for a moment, but said softly, "He was killed."

Elano drew in a deep breath, "Surely you must have some family?"

"No, I don't," Ivana said stonily. "Mother died at child birth while giving birth to my sister. The child was stillborn and premature. Such things do not usually happen among Elves, but as you know, even we are not completely free from them. First time it ever happened in centuries, actually."

"What about your father?"

"He sailed to the Undying Lands years ago."

"I thought you said he was killed," Elano asked, feeling more and more puzzled.

"Yes, well…" Ivana said, trailing off, apparently unable to think of a suitable reply.

Legolas suddenly realized that he had no business to be eavesdropping on this conversation, and his cheek flushed. He had been so concerned about Ivana that…wait, since when was _he_ concerned about _Ivana_?

He moved away from the conversation quietly, his mind reeling, confused by all he had heard. Ivana didn't have…_any_ family? Then how did she survive? A young Elfling like her couldn't…

Suddenly Legolas realized why she was such a good hunter. She'd been doing it for years. Necessity had given wings to her feet and vigor to her hands, and she was so practiced at hunting and fighting because she'd been doing it all her life. It was what kept her alive.

He was consumed by guilt; _why_ had he thought so badly of Ivana? If Elano's life was a litany of loses, then it was still nothing compared to Ivana's. Just like Elano, she had been affected by the losses in her life, but unlike him she had turned cold and hard because of them, not timid and vulnerable.

He knew he had no business disliking her…and yet he couldn't help it. He remembered her high-and-mighty ways, the fact that she had no respect for him as a teacher; only as a fighter. How she still never called him sir without a prompting or a sharp word. How she always put on a holier-than-thou look when he chastised her for anything.

With this internal debate going on in his head, he scarcely noticed when he had reached the rest of the students. Once there, he was forced to put it out of his mind, and concentrate on controlling the ever erring boys, who were all wrestling with Celin for Elano's letter. But that night, when he was busy trying his best to keep awake, his mind kept on going over what Ivana had said, and why he disliked her even though he shouldn't.

…

TBC…

I just want to say that in my experience girls (that's my classmates, if you want to know) take ages getting dressed and bathed and writing in slam books and stuff, thus I wrote that Legolas hinted at the girls' slowness, with some reason.

Also, the boys (again my classmates) have absolutely no qualms about reading other people's letters, slam books, etc. I'm modeling this story's class on mine, and though there are exceptions to what I just said (like me, minus the boy's bit) I don't want anyone to think I'm generalizing or am prejudiced against either sex.

BitterLee: Thank you, that's very nice of you. You did improve my review count- by fifty percent.

Lindahoyland: I changed the title; your suggestionseemed a good one. Do you like it?I too was hit by how silly the titleit sounded when I read your review. As always, thank you for your kindcomments. You're bang on about the Ramayana, and I know whcih series you mean, it plays here every Sunday. Okay, got to go now. Let's hope the new title buys me a few more reviewers, huh? Thanks for reviewing.


	15. More Trouble

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 15: More Trouble

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

WARNING: This chapter contains Legolas torture. It's not in the least graphic, but if you don't like this sort of thing, please don't read.

…

Three weeks had passed. Legolas bade all his students take down the tents and pack their bags. He wanted to make an early start to the old willow tree where he and Aragorn had arranged to meet when the month was up.

It was in the southern part of Mirkwood, and two days walk from where they were now camped. Legolas wanted plenty of time to be set aside for putting up camp within Mirkwood.

The more dangerous part of the trip was ahead, which was why it needed at least two adults to supervise. He and Aragorn had discussed places where there were spiders, but not so many that either of them could not single-handedly slay them all, nor too few either.

He knew that when he finished training the males in his class, they would all be patrolling in Mirkwood very soon. He did not want them to be left with no idea of how to kill the things that lurked within the forest. Thus he was taking them to fight the spiders, but he had not told them this, because he suspected that some, especially the girls, would have a lot of fears to face up to and he did not want to burden them with this until he had to. Also, he did not know how Elano would react to the thought of killing spiders.

So to the surprise of his students, he decided to set out a few days early. The walk through Mirkwood was gloomy and silent; and even the students found it hard to chatter like they usually did. After being in the open sunlight for so long, they did not like to go back into the thick trees and shaded paths that they had taken for granted before their first trip out of the country.

Legolas gave a great deal of thought to how he was going to bring the students safely to the rendezvous point without any mishaps like last time. He finally decided to put Linnor at the rear, because he knew that she would never stray again, not after what happened the last time. He himself led the party, and as an extra precaution, he stopped every two hours to do a head count.

He was only able to breathe freely when he managed to get everyone to the willow tree in safety. He supervised the setting up of camp. Then he issued instructions that no one was to leave the glade they were in without his permission, and even then not alone; they were to go in twos and threes. The children grumbled about this, but could not find anything to say to counter his logic.

Legolas determined to put them through a rigorous training in sparring; he wanted Aragorn to see how far they had come in one month. He himself was waiting with great anticipation for the arrival of his friend, because it meant that he would finally be able to catch up on some sleep after a long, long time.

While he was thinking these thoughts, he noticed a barely discernable faint rumble beneath his feet. He whipped out his dagger from his boot and stuck it into the ground, putting his ear to the hilt so he could hear what the cause of the sound was. His heart turned cold when he realized.

He straightened up, trying to look as normal as possible as possible.

"I'm afraid I have to ask you to pack everything up now."

"But sir…" their protests were in vain, Legolas insisted that they do as he said. It took an hour to do properly, and Legolas looked on agitatedly as the rumbling beneath his feet grew ominously, always aware that he was solely responsible for all of these seventy-two lives.

"I led you to the wrong tree by accident," he lied when they were done, "And I don't know where the actual tree is. There's a largish tree house on this same willow tree, unless my eyes are very much mistaken. It is large enough to house ten. Climb up and see where the actual tree is. And those who can't fit in there; climb up the other trees. The first person able to spot the tree will get extra waybread for lunch."

There was a scramble as everyone climbed the trees quickly. The moment they were up Legolas bade them not to move a muscle and not to talk. Something in his voice told them not to disobey. Only Ivana and Celin remained down.

"I'll fight too," Ivana said in a whisper.

"You will not," Legolas answered, not even allowing himself time to marvel at the fact that she knew, "Climb a tree at once. That is an order."

The rumbling under his feet was growing again. As Ivana swiftly climbed up the tree, Legolas ran and hid all the bags and tents in a thicket of trees. He looked around quickly and it seemed as if no one could tell where they were. He was about to climb a tree himself, when he noticed that Celin was still on the ground.

"Celin, climb the tree now!" Legolas hissed in alarm, one foot poised on a branch as the rumbling beneath their feet grew steadily.

Celin suddenly turned ashen and dropped to the ground, holding onto his ankle. _Oh no. This cannot be happening, not now._ Legolas looked at the pale boy on the floor, and cold fear gripped his heart. He ran to him and lifted him up off the floor and tried to pass him to the people in the trees above but the boy jerked around at the movement and fell on the ground as his pain increased tenfold.

The rumbling under their feet had now become distinguishable footsteps. In a split second, Legolas made his decision. Abandoning his attempts at trying to make Celin climb the tree, he threw himself at the boy making him lie flat on the ground and covering his tense body just as orcs burst into the clearing.

…

The orcs came to an abrupt stop when they saw the grown Elf sprawled over a smaller one, who was struggling fiercely. There were about forty of them all together. If Legolas had one more person to help him, he would have been able to defeat all of them without a thought. Even by himself, he might have been able to kill a good number them.

But he could not risk them taking Celin as hostage. He could not risk being made to watch Celin being tortured and killed in front of him. If that was going to happen, it would happen only after he, Legolas, was dead.

Celin, however, seemed to have other plans. As soon as he saw the orcs, he began to struggle frantically, ignoring the pain in his ankle, telling his teacher in fierce whispers to climb a tree fast, and leave him.

"You are the heir, sir!" he said in his ear, "You cannot die, certainly not on my account."

"You are my student, Celin," Legolas whispered as an orc leered at him, "And you certainly cannot die on mine."

Celin struggled a little more.

"Please, Celin, I beg you, lie still," Legolas hated the tone in his voice, but he was prepared to give up even his pride to protect the lives of the young ones in his care.

Celin caught the tone and lay still immediately. He knew he owed it to his teacher to do as he said, especially when the proud Elf actually begged it of him. But oh, _how_ he hated himself for the weakness that might well prove to be the undoing of the entire kingdom.

"Move away," an orc grunted in the Common Tongue, Legolas thanked the Valar that none of his students knew the Common Tongue. He did not want them to understand what the orcs said to him.

He tried to figure out what to say to the orcs and then had a brainwave. He would pretend he did not know the Common Tongue. He would play dumb, and hope that they would leave him alone.

"Don't move from where you are, no matter what happens," he said in Elven to the students above him in the stars, but he made his tone into a question. It sounded to the orcs as though he did not understand the Common Tongue and was asking them what they were saying.

"The stupid Elf does not understand our tongue," the orc said to the others behind him, pausing only to give Legolas a series of kicks. "Perhaps he should be punished for his crime?"

The orcs made hideous noises of enthused agreement. Legolas's blood ran cold and he braced himself.

"We'll play our tricks on him first, and when he moves aside, we can have some fun with his son as well."

_They think Celin is my son._ Legolas gripped the ground tightly, and prayed that his students would survive this.

"Don't move, no matter what they do to me," he said in a whisper to Celin who was still lying tensely beneath him. By this time, the orc had managed to produce a whip from somewhere about his foul person.

Legolas braced himself. "Don't move a muscle. That's an order, and _if_ you disobey it you will die," Legolas said in Elfish to the onlookers above, once again making his tone sound as if he was begging for mercy. It stung his pride when the orcs jeered at him, but he knew this was his duty, and he had to stick by it without any thought for himself.

After this he had no time to think, because the whip rained down on his body mercilessly, drawing blood and tracing lines of fire across his back.

Every time he had a reprieve, he would raise his steaming face to the orcs and say to the onlookers above in the same begging tone, "Keep your posts. Do not move, for Valar's sake, do not. That's an order from the King's son."

This would bring a fresh bout of whipping and beatings. The orcs had no idea what he was saying, but hearing the fair Elven speech, they were incensed to do their worst on Legolas's body.

Five minutes later, Legolas was seconds away from actually crying out in mercy. He wasn't even been able to open his mouth to even tell the people above to stay still; because he feared that he would cry out in pain. His body trembled, and Celin felt it jerk again at the touch of the cruel whip.

His ankle was fine again, and he was feeling very guilty at having to lie still like this while his teacher was being tortured. Legolas sensed this, and tightened his hold on the boy with a half-stifled cry as the whip came down with more force than ever before.

The orc had thrown it down on him in disgust. "He shows no sign of breaking!" he said with irritation, "We do not have time for this sort of fun. Let us kill him and his son and move on to Dol Guldur!"

"No! Let us break him!" another orc argued, "He's a foul Elf, and he deserves as much pain as we can possibly give him!"

Legolas stiffened at hearing the name of the long forsaken evil abode of Sauron. Alarm bells were ringing inside his head and he prayed for the safety of his students. He no longer cared for himself.

But the orcs had no chance to do anything more to Legolas, because at that moment Celin decided that enough was enough. He stuck his face out from under Legolas's arm and said.

"Do something to save him, you fools," he cried, "If we let him die, we let down all of Mirkwood"

"NO!" yelled Legolas, "Don't-" But he was too late. Arrows rained down on Legolas's tormenters. Many missed their mark, but all of Ivana's arrows were straight and true. She leapt down from the tree the moment her arrows were spent.

"No!" Legolas gasped again, as Celin too wriggled out from under him.

He leapt to his feet with a frustrated growl and joined Ivana and Celin in the fray, which did not last very long as they were all three of them accomplished fighters. Legolas managed to save both Celin and Ivana from the orcs a number of times during the fight, but his injuries did not let him do as much as he could have. Suddenly to his alarm he felt his knees give way below him and his back smarted horribly from an orc fist.

The orc dug his sword into his right shoulder, he fell back with a cry of pain, but the cut was fortunately shallow and no immediate cause for concern. The only problem was getting back to his feet and continuing to spare Ivana and Celin from the fray as much as he was able.

He staggered to his feet and transferred his knife to his left hand. Suddenly there was a pained cry from behind him, and he turned swiftly to see what had happened. Ivana was on the floor and a dagger was protruding from her stomach. She was unconscious. An orc was about to finish her off with his sword. Legolas at once loosed an arrow from his bow which killed it instantly.

With a burst of adrenaline, he called to Celin and together the two of them finished off the last of the orcs. The sounds of people jumping lightly from their perches on the trees were masked by Legolas's ragged breathing. The Elf was completely spent. He collapsed unconscious next to Ivana with the knowledge in his head that he would be severely punished by his father for letting a female minor get hurt.

…

TBC…

That has got to be the first cliffie I've given you this story. I can't promise it'll be the last though. What do you think?

I have a question for all of you, though I may or may not take your opinion on it. Do you think that Ivana should die or not?

Review replies:

Lindahoyland: I could kiss you. Seriously, I could kiss you. I got six reviews because of your amazing, amazing advice to me. I'm going to dance a jig. THANK you for making that suggestion. Next time, please make suggestions like that a little earlier, if you don't mind. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks a million!

Don't we all know what we're talking about when it comes to teenagers? After all most of us are them!

BitterLee: Whoa, you actually reviewed! I'm sorry I'm a bit surprised, but you did say you didn't review because of work and stuff. Thank you though, I appreciate it.

A slam book is what you would call an autograph book- the irritating kind that says fav. Actress, fav singer, fav hobby, etc, etc. Actually we don't really give those out anymore. We give out blank notebooks and make all our fav. People fill it out for us by saying talking about all the things we shared together. We call them senti books, as in sentimental. I just thought I'd make things simple by saying 'slam book' but apparently, that's slang of my school as well! My mistake!

The reason for all this senti book business is that we just finished Year 10 and will be parting ways soon. I myself just moved cities.

Nolitari: Thanks, it means a lot to me.

Barrelracerchicka: Thanks!

Kabuki733701: Thank you very much. Please review next time as well.

Raven Hope: Thank you for the compliment. I like your pen name.


	16. Elano Is Surprising

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 16: Elano Is Surprsing

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.

…

"Oh, Valar!" Elano gasped as he leapt down from the tree and rushed towards the two fallen Elves, "Stand back!" he said to the rest of the students, "Give them some air, and I can revive them!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Pilinel said angrily, speaking for most of the class, "You think we'll let _you_ near Thranduil's heir?"

"Are you insane!" Celin said, with such anger that Pilinel actually took a step back, "He's the one person who can save him! He helped save my life. He can save sirs too!"

Elano took a step forward, and put a hand on Pilinel's shoulder, "Let me see to him, Nel. He gave up his pride and dignity, and would have given up his life if it came to that, only to save us. Can't you give up a mere grudge to save _him_?"

Pilinel gazed at Elano for a moment, and then wordlessly stepped back out of the way. So did everybody else. So impressed were they by Legolas's courageous attempt to save them, they had forgotten all the hostility they had felt toward him during the last few months.

Elano rushed to Ivana's side first, knowing her condition was more critical then Legolas's.

"This has to be removed," he said, "I'll do it while she's still unconscious, spare her the pain. Someone get my pack, and boil some water. I'll need to stop the bleeding when the dagger's out."

At his words fifty people made to shoot off to the tents. "No!" Elano shouted to make himself heard over the din, "One person go, or you'll all end up in each others' way."

When the pack was brought, he hastily poured its entire contents on the ground and took a yard of dark colored cloth from a cloth bag. Then he turned to Ivana, and told Celin to hold her down. He gripped the dagger's hilt and eased it as gently as possible out of her stomach. To his alarm, she did not wake, only moaned a little and remained unconscious. He pressed the cloth against the wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood, but it was already getting soaked.

One of the girls made sick noises, and put her hand over her mouth at the sight of the blood.

"Oh, for crying out 'loud!" Celin exclaimed in irritation, for he had never had any patience for this kind of weakness, "Get out of here, you silly goose, and anyone else who is squeamish, _please_ follow her example, whether you're a girl or a boy. Elano will have to tend _you_ next!"

A few girls fled at his words, but though a couple of boys looked a little green, none of them went. If Legolas had been conscious he would have rolled his eyes, and wondered when pride would cease to be an issue for these boys.

Five minutes later, Ivana's bleeding wasn't showing any signs of slowing. Elano glanced at Legolas with worry, seeing that he was still unconscious. He needed to see to him as well. He told Celin to press the cloth against Ivana and turned to his teacher.

…

When Legolas came to, he found Elano was bending over him with a worried expression on his face. In a flash, everything that had happened came back to him. He shot upright suddenly, making all the surrounding students jump.

"Ivana!" he shouted in mild panic.

"Sir!" Elano said in horror, trying to get Legolas to lie back down. "You cannot get up in this condition!"

"Watch me," Legolas said defiantly, and ignoring all of Elano's protests he got painfully albeit gracefully to his feet.

When he saw Ivana's wound, his face paled and he sat down again beside her.

"Are _you_ alright, Celin?" he asked taking the cloth from his student's hands and pressing it against the gash on Ivana's stomach.

"Fine, sir," Celin replied, exchanging looks with Elano, "I just wanted to-"

"There's no need to thank me, Celin," Legolas said with self-loathing, "I did not protect my students as I should have. I gave into my weakness, and Ivana got hurt because of it." He glanced around at the stinking corpses of the orcs and then turned his attention to his wounds.

"Sir, that isn't-" Celin began in protest, placing a hand on his teacher's shoulder, but Legolas interrupted him with a hiss of pain.

"Don't touch me there," he said through gritted teeth.

Elano stepped forward to take charge, "Let me tend your wounds, sir."

But Legolas apparently had other plans, "No. I have to get Estel," he muttered distractedly, getting to his feet.

Elano looked at him in confusion. _Am I the only one who thinks this is a hopeless situation?_ He wondered.

"Hope?" someone was whispering, "Where's he going to get _that_?"

By this time, Legolas had whistled for Arod, who had luckily stayed out of sight with all the other horses. The steed cantered up to him, followed by a trail of other horses, and nuzzled him under the arm. Legolas was about to leap on his back when he stopped suddenly with an anguished, "I _can't_."

"Sir?" Elano asked, seriously wondering if his teacher had hit his head on something during the fight.

Legolas turned an anguished gaze on Elano, "Estel is her only hope, but I cannot leave you alone to get him."

"Estel?" Elano was feeling more confused by the minute.

"Aragorn, King Elessar, Estel," Legolas explained in one breath. Elano's face cleared.

"You want King Elessar to heal Ivana, sir?" he asked.

"It's her only hope, Elano," Legolas replied wearily, "Look at that wound. You're only sixteen winters. You cannot heal that. I don't know if even Aragorn can heal that."

"It's true I can't heal that," Elano said slowly, "But I can heal you, sir, and then you can go and get Lord Aragorn. He should be three quarters of the journey here, should he not?"

"You think I can leave all of you alone to bring Estel here?" Legolas asked in an anguished voice, "Now, when we could still be under the threat of more orcs?"

Elano stared at him, "If you don't get him, Ivana will die," he stated in a monotone.

"And if I leave now, so could you," Legolas said quietly.

"You'll have to make a choice, sir," Linnor said softly walking up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't," Legolas said, feeling a pain that had nothing to do with his wounds being disturbed again. He sat down suddenly; unable to tax his weary, aching body any longer, "If only I had another adult with me…" he said in a despairing tone

"Sir?"

Legolas raised his head and saw that Elano was looking at him in a very queer way, as if he was steeling himself for something. "What is it, Elano?" he asked

"I…you would go wouldn't you, if I…if there was another adult on this trip?"

"Yes, of course, Elano," Legolas snapped, "Do you really have to ask?"

Elano flinched but continued doggedly, "Even if…the adult was many years your junior, you would go?"

"Where is this leading?" Legolas asked, puzzled.

"I am…not who I seem sir," Elano said, abruptly switching to the Common Tongue, "I…I'm actually not an Elfling. I'm…I'm over half a century old, sir."

"What!" Legolas sprang to his feet and stared at Elano in shock, horror, and disbelief, "You know…what you are saying…what it _means_!"

"I know what it means, sir," Elano said, looking slightly pale.

"You lied to me," Legolas said faintly, "You deceived one of the royal family…you…you will have to face a prison sentence for this, Elano."

"I know, but I didn't lie about the entire thing. My father died a few months ago, that was no lie. He did ask me to become a good soldier like him, and I was determined to be the best I could be. At exactly that time, as if in answer to my prayers, you announced your plans for teaching. So I pretended I was an Elfling. Wasn't very difficult, to tell the truth, Elves grow quickly so most people here are my size. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that you can leave the children in my supervision. I am an adult, so I can care for them."

"I can't do that!" Legolas said loudly, even though he knew he would have to, to save Ivana.

"You have to, sir," the Elfling; no, the _He-Elf,_ said firmly, unwittingly voicing Legolas's unspoken thought, "It's the only way."

Legolas's mind was in turmoil. If he stayed, Ivana would certainly die. If he went, he would be leaving seventy-one children in the care of someone who was not good at fighting, and was to him still a mere child. Not only that, someone who did not have any respect from the people he would care for.

"You have to, sir," Elano said again.

"Fine," Legolas said after a long silence, "Climb the trees, put Ivana in the tree house at the top. Keep her alive until King Elessar gets here. Make your camp in the trees, if you can. _Do not_ let them fight orcs. Oh and…you'll have to do something with these corpses. If you leave them here, all of Mirkwood will be forever contaminated by the filth of orcs."

"Alright, sir, I will take care of it." Elano was going to say more, but Legolas had started already towards Arod.

"Wait!" Linnor cried. Though she hadn't been able to follow the conversation in Common Tongue, she had figured out that Legolas was about to go off in search of Aragorn. "He can't go like this, wounded and bruised!" she said indignantly.

"By the Valar, you're right! I forgot completely!" Elano exclaimed, leaping towards Legolas, "Take off your tunic at once, sir. I must tend to you."

"I won't take it off, I'm fine," Legolas said obstinately.

"Sir, I'm a practiced healer, and it will be me who decides whether you are fine or not," Elano said commandingly, in a way that only healers can, "Now please, take off your tunic and lie down."

Seeing that Elano was not going to budge from this, Legolas whispered to him in Common Tongue that he did not want the children to see his wounds. He walked out of the clearing, instructing the others to stay where they were, and settled under a tree near by, but hidden from view. He winced as he pulled the tattered tunic over his shoulders; the cloth chafed at the raw wounds and made them bleed anew.

When the tunic was off, Elano gave a horrified gasp. Legolas's skin was completely covered with bleeding whip lashes, and huge purple bruises. It was clear the Elf had suffered much during the past minutes.

Elano pressed a wet cloth against Legolas's back. The latter winced at the pain the boiling water caused him. Elano did a number of painful examinations, which made Legolas hiss a few times, and then declared that Legolas did not have any broken bones.

He put a soothing salve on his teacher's back, and then wrapped some bandages over it. Legolas got to his feet, somewhat less painfully than he had earlier. Elano handed him a shirt to wear. The Elf slipped it on, grateful that his abused body was out of sight at last.

He walked back to the clearing and made for his horse at once, but Elano stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Wait, take Celin with you, he's the best rider and light too. If Lord Aragorn is on foot, he will need a steed to bring him here and you'll need one to get back. And Celin, take this salve, and put it on sir daily, even if you have to threaten him with a sword to make him lie down."

"But…what is going on?" Celin asked; referring to the conversation in Common Tongue that he had not understood, but had apparently convinced the otherwise obstinate Legolas to leave.

"Sir will tell you," Elano said, whistling for a horse. He paused, and then said very quickly, "Remember, whatever he says, I'll always be your friend."

"Tell the others what you told me," Legolas said, looking straight into Elano's kind, wise eyes, and wondering how he had ever taken this Elf to be a mere boy.

"I will, sir. Safe journey," Elano said, as Legolas rode out of the clearing, followed by a completely bewildered Celin.

…

TBC…

First off, I'd like to say that I've been planning this surprise about Elano from the beginning of the story. I've established that he's seen the hard parts of life, he has all these profound views on things, and he's really mature.

Secondly, I could dance. This has been one of the happiest weeks in my life. Not only do I get ten reviews (WOW!), I also touch fifty for the first time in my life. I could sing!

Also, the results for my boards came out yesterday and I did pretty well. I got an eighty percent average, and my highest was English (as is my wont) with an 86 percent. I'm jubilant, though I'm aware that by some standards, eighty is terrible.

Having said all that, I'd like to thank all of you for reviewing (why the hell am I being so formal?) and here are the replies.

BitterLee: Cool, a yearbook! Sorry, but I've only ever seen those in movies. Is it fun signing the yearbooks? Thanks for reviewing.

Elf771: We'll have to see about that. I've made a decision about the killing, but I'm not crazy enough to give it away. You have to wait in suspense!

KaseyRider: Some names are made up, some are from websites. The names Ananya, Enanya, Elano and Ivana, are obviously not Elvish, but the others, as far as I can remember. I haven't read the Silmarilion. Shame on me. About the sixteen winters thing- I knew someone would comment on that. I always thought Elves grew up fast and therefore were just as mature as men when they are really young. Am I wrong? If I am, it's unfortuneately too late to change it. Thanks for reviewing.

Tavia: Thank you for reviewing, and being so sweet about the story. You're the only one so far who's told me that you don't mind Ivana being killed if I can resolve things with Legolas. Thank you, but I refuse to comment further on that.

Kabuki733701: Wow! I'm speechless. That was my first Legolas orc torture scene, and I was seriously apprehensive about that. Thanks for making my day!

Lindahoyland: You know my mind! How on earth did you guess that sending Leggy to find Aragorn was my plan from the very beginning? Thanks for reviewing.

Ceriadara, Nolitari & Anonymous: Thank you very much!

Now, please R&R!


	17. Questions

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 17: Questions

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

The moment Legolas left the clearing; all the children crowded around Elano and began bombarding him with questions.

"What did he say to you?"

"_What_ is going on, Elano?"

"Have you been holding out on us?"

"How on earth do _you_ know the Common Tongue?"

Elano raised his hands for silence, and got it immediately. "Right now, I have to take care of Ivana," he answered, "And I can't face all of your questions. But if I tell two of you very briefly what this whole thing is all about, and have them come and tell you, will you be satisfied?"

The class replied with new protests and questions. Elano raised his hands and spoke louder than he had ever spoken before in his life, "Alright. ALRIGHT. Sir put me in charge of all of you, and you _will_ listen to me, if you have any regard at all for a person's life. I need Pilinel and Elgalad to help me get Ivana and all the rest of the herbs and the water to the tree house. The rest of you, climb trees, and _stay_ there. I'll send Elgalad and Pilinel up, and they can tell you everything I tell them."

Grumbling and shuffling their feet a little, the children did as they were told. They did not particularly like this arrangement, but they were not stupid enough to endanger Ivana's life by anymore talking.

Elano, Elgalad and Pilinel struggled with the difficult task of getting Ivana up to the tree house. Finally they managed it, and then Elano sent the other two to bring the herbs, and the rest of the provisions and luggage to the large tree house. He sat down next to Ivana on the wooden floor, and applied a herbal tincture to her wound, hoping it would slow the bleeding a little. To his relief, it did; but very marginally.

Elano knew that if Ivana's stomach was badly injured, then the acids within it would enter her chest cavity and poison her, dooming her to a slow and excruciating death. He shuddered at the thought. He wished that this could have happened to anyone but this dearest friend. A tear slipped down his cheek, but he brushed it away instantly. An emotional breakdown would not help this situation in any way.

A moment later, there was a low call from the base of the willow tree, and Elgalad and Pilinel handed up the herbs and provisions to Elano, who stacked them neatly in a corner of the tree house. The bags were all blood-stained by the time he had finished. He looked down at himself, and gave a rueful grimace at the sight he must present. He was covered with blood, sweat, and he could feel leaves in his hair which he did not remove, for fear of getting the blood into his hair.

He sighed slightly when he heard Elgalad and Pilinel clambering up to the tree house. Now he would have to explain everything to them. When did all the explanations ever end?

He gave them a brief and vague explanation, but of course, as he might have foreseen, that did not satisfy them. They did not stop their questions until they had managed to wrangle from him the entire conversation which he had had with Legolas, and left only when he said that Ivana needed him, and he could talk no more.

"Don't come up again, I need to concentrate," Elano called after them, before turning his attention back to Ivana.

He noticed with a measure of alarm that her breathing was getting shallow. That meant her stomach _was_ badly injured, just as he had feared. There was nothing much he could do for her, barring a painkiller, unless… but Elano shook that thought out of his head.

He could not lie that on anyone, unless they asked for it themselves. It was too painful, and when his mother had given the precious potion to him years ago, she had warned him that it was never to be used except in the most desperate situations. It was an heirloom of their family; his mother's ancestors had all been healers.

He gripped Ivana's hand and willed her to keep breathing, now unable to stop the tears from falling. He eased her head onto her lap in a futile attempt to make breathing easier. In the process, one of his tears splashed down on her face, and her eyes blinked open at the touch.

"Le...Le…Legolas?" she asked in a choked voice.

"No, Ivana, it's me, Elano," he replied, though his worry increased tenfold at the thought that she had just mistaken him for Legolas, as he and sir looked nothing alike. That did not speak well of her condition.

"I have to tell him something," she said, gasping for air, "I have to tell him…"

"Peace, Ivana he's gone to seek Lord Aragorn to get help for you. Rest, mellonamin," Elano said with a shaking voice.

"No…you know I'm dying…I can't…" her voice broke and she began to cough violently, blood flowing from her mouth.

Elano knew it wouldn't be long now, before she stopped breathing. He did no what to say to ease her pain.

"Is there no way you can keep me alive till Legolas gets here?" Ivana said in a grated voice, before coughing consumed her again.

"I…" Again, Elano did not know what to say, but Ivana was by now very good at reading his expressions.

"There is," she said in answer to her own question, so surprised that she forgot her injuries for a moment, "For Valar's sake, whatever the side effects, administer it at once."

Elano hung his head sadly, "It will trap you in this state of illness for four days. It won't let you die, but it won't heal you in anyway. You will keep coughing up blood, and have trouble breathing and sleeping and you'll be in such pain…"

"Give it to me," Ivana said, interrupting him. "I need it."

"I can't bring myself…it's like a slow torture and you will die anyway, once it's effects wear off…no mortal has the skill to heal this sort of wound"

"Lord Aragorn does," Ivana said with a lot of conviction given the circumstances, "His are the hands of a King…" She began to cough again.

"It will take four days for sir to find him, and four to return!" Elano replied in an anguished tone, rubbing her back to ease her as he spoke, "By then you will be long dead." His voice became almost inaudible as he said the last words.

"Legolas will be in time," Ivana whispered again with utmost conviction, "He has to be. I have to tell him something, and it is important…" her voice trailed off as she realized that she was repeating herself.

Elano stared at her for a moment, and then said, "You could tell me, and I'd tell him for you-"

But he was interrupted by a shake of her head, "No. I can't…it concerns only the both of us…I will only tell you if he does not make it back in time…" She started to cough again.

He stared at her for a moment, and she looked into his eyes and begged him without words to do as she said. He reached for his bag of supplies. He pulled took out a small glass vial, full of a nasty looking purple liquid. He pulled out the stopper and held it to her lips.

She drank it, and the he gave her water to disguise the horrible taste. But she had not drunk a few sips when her body was wracked again with harsh coughing, and all the while blood flowed from her mouth…

…

Legolas estimated that it would take three or four days of hard riding to reach Aragorn. He very much hoped that his friend was traveling openly; it would be a real pity to cross his path without either of them realizing it. For the first hour of the journey, he rode like the wind, but then Arod grew tired and the pain in his body became more pronounced. Not to mention Celin could not always keep up with his speed.

So he slowed slightly and allowed Celin to catch up with him. The moment this happened, the boy started to bombard him with questions about Elano and their conversation in the Common Tongue. Poor Legolas was already exhausted from lack of sleep, and he felt so pressured by Celin's endless questions, that he almost nudged Arod into full speed again.

But he knew the questions had to be answered, and he knew that Elano was counting on him to do it as subtly and gently as he could. Celin and Elano were by now good friends, and Celin might possibly be hurt that this secret had been kept from him. So Legolas set about outlining his conversation with Elano with as much tact as he could.

As he spoke, his voice seemed to come from far away, and he was feeling curiously light-headed. The shallow cut in his arm where the orc had stabbed him earlier was throbbing incessantly with shooting pains. It was the one wound that Elano had not tended, because it had seemed insignificant beside the whip lashes and the bruises.

Five minutes after he had made his complete explanation, listened to all of Celin's disbelieving exclamations, and told him again and again that Elano was still a very good person at heart; Legolas's head and arm throbbed suddenly with pain. He stopped short and stared unseeingly into the distance, horror etched on his face.

He shut his eyes momentarily as the truth came crashing down on him. The orc blade that had cut his arm had been poisoned. He could feel the waves of pain it was sending up and down his arm, and the rest of his body. It was making every one of his injuries more painful than they should be. His eyes widened as he realized that that must also be the reason why he had fainted after the battle.

Celin had also stopped riding, and was staring at him in surprise; "Sir?" he asked with concern, "Is something wrong?"

"No, Celin," Legolas answered with a deep sense of foreboding, "But I fear that we will have to quicken our pace if we are to get anywhere by nightfall."

…

TBC…

Hi guys! I'm very glad you were able to digest Elano being an adult, because there's another, bigger surprise coming us! (Evil laugh) Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Anyway, thank you very much for reviewing. I'm forever grateful, though my count has dropped to three again. Oh well. It's better than nothing, and I'm going to write this story whether or not I get reviews for it, because it'll plague me to my death if I don't.

Please keep reviewing though!

Review replies:

Lindahoyland: I'm glad you liked that part about Elano helping Ivana and then Legolas. I got some of the healing info from your stories; the words 'herbal tincture' for instance are new to me. I knew you mixed herbs in alcohol to make a tincture, but I didn't know you called it a herbal tincture till I read your story. I've been trying to find some info on healing, but haven't got too far. Thanks for that. Keep reviewing, and update your story soon!

Kabuki733701: You didn't overlook anything, if I was the reader and you were the writer, I'd have overlooked it too!

Deana: Welcome back! I was so surprised to see you review after so long.

See ya!


	18. Good Advice

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 18: Good Advice

…

Elano sang softly to Ivana, hoping that she would be able to sleep. His voice was soft and melodious, and carried over the trees to the ears of the Elflings, making them start in delighted surprise. He knew that he would soon have to see to them and make arrangements for them to sleep in the tree house. Not to mention, get rid of all the corpses lying around the clearing. _And_ organize and ration the food. How _had_ sir done all of it?

But he did not dare leave Ivana alone, not in her present condition. He would have to call one of the other children to sit with her…but who? Who would be willing to put all their questions aside, and just do as he asked them without any fatal mistakes?

He thought back to the conversation he had had with Pilinel, trying to remember who else had expressed their doubts for him. Or rather, who had not expressed them, apart from Celin.

He remembered Linnor's pretty, sensitive face; how she had put a hand on sir's shoulder and told him gently but firmly that he had to make a choice. _She_ at any rate was one hadn't run away from the blood, like some of the other girls had done. She hadn't given him a hard time about the conversation in Common Tongue. In fact, it struck him that she'd been the one who had silenced the others and led them to the trees, so he could tend Ivana without any disturbances. In all the confusion, it had slipped past his notice, but now he remembered it.

Without moving from his position, he called out to Linnor, in a voice that carried over the trees. Ivana stirred slightly, but she had fallen into a deep sleep and did not wake from it except to cough every now and then. The trees rustled, and Linnor swung herself into the tree house, making Elano start in surprise.

"You called, sir?"

Elano winced at the form of address. It only sounded right when it was used for Legolas, the person who in his opinion had more than earned the title he had asked of them months ago.

In his opinion he himself did not deserve it. He cleared his throat and said, "Please don't call me that, Linnor. I'm still the same person as I was before, and you don't have to be so formal only because you found out I'm older than you. Would you please sit with Ivana for awhile? I have to take out provisions and feed everybody."

"Of course, Elano," she said, and sat down next to him. He put Ivana's head on her lap and got up and began rummaging in the bags for food. After he had passed out some salted meat to everyone, he handed Linnor a plate as well. He himself settled down to some bread and cheese.

Linnor watched him with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Why don't you ever eat meat?" she asked rather abruptly after a long period of silence.

Elano wondered how many more times he would have to answer this question, and told her briefly about his views on the matter. To his surprise she did not question him on this, but merely nodded as if she had gotten an answer to her question.

"You don't find that strange?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Maybe a little strange," she said with a smile, "But it is a beautiful belief to have, if a little impractical. Besides, I have no cause to question anything about you. Sir trusted you to take charge of us, and I know he cares about us very much. If he trusted us in your hands, then I can trust you as well."

Elano was momentarily speechless. Earlier, he had chosen to call Linnor for aid because he had known that if he told her to shut up, she would. But to find that she actually sympathized with him…he could not have expected that in a million years.

He cleared his throat and asked another thing that had been puzzling him, "How did you come to realize that he cares about us? I myself did a long time ago, when he spoke to me kindly when I was not in the best of spirits. And Celin realized that when sir helped save him from drowning. But this class is full of crazy, obstinate people, who don't believe a word of all this even though it's right in front of their nose. Until not so long ago, you were one of them, what has changed for you now?"

"Elano," she said, shooting him a look, "Legolas saved all our lives today, and none of us have even the slightest doubt any longer that he doesn't dislike us anymore than he does his own flesh and blood."

"Yes, but you know that he cares about us, not just that he doesn't dislike us," Elano insisted. "And I want to know how."

"Well you have to promise to keep this a secret," Linnor said with a hint of a smile, "Remember when I got lost?"

Frowning, Elano nodded slightly.

"Well, sir didn't actually _find_ me," Linnor continued, "I mean he did, but it wasn't till I was confronted by spiders. He came upon us and fought them and drove them away. He was badly bitten, and would have died, if he hadn't found the antidote. Apparently it was right there, in that very clearing."

Elano couldn't help but whistle softly, "Sir seems to have been doing a lot of life saving lately," he said.

"Yes, he has," Linnor replied.

"And why do you want this kept a secret?" he asked after a pause.

"Because I wandered away after I'd argued with Aurél, and she would hate herself if she knew that I'd nearly died because of her," Linnor answered.

Elano nodded at this, and then rose as he finished his meal.

He told everyone to wash their own plates with a little water, because there was no stream nearby to go to. He also made arrangements for sleeping in the tree house, organized shifts and watches. Then he tackled the harder task of getting rid of the corpses.

There was no way to bury them, and if he burnt them, then he would set the whole of Mirkwood on fire. Finally he decided not to pile them up and burn them, but to do so one by one. This way, he could always contain the fire if it got out of hand.

When this exhausting task done, it was getting rather late, so he sent Linnor off and sat by Ivana, whom he had settled on a bedroll.

There was an hour before he would start calling the Elflings to take turns sleeping, and in the meantime he needed to think. Had he done the right thing by giving the potion to Ivana? Had he spent his family heirloom for a useless cause? _What_ would his mother say when she found out that he'd used it?

He was also beginning to see why Legolas was so shocked when he had insisted that orcs were living beings like all the other races on Middle-Earth. Orcs were evil, that was all there was to it; they delighted in pain and blood, he had seen that now.

If it had been in his character, he would have hated them, but it was not in him to hate; for he knew that hate hurts the hater more than the hated. He remembered how Legolas had said that there were some things worth fighting for, and he was beginning to fear that his teacher was right in the only thing in which Elano had deemed him wrong.

…

Legolas and Celin rode all day, and rested at night for the sake of their horses. Celin remained silent for most of the journey, for he was still coming to terms with the fact that his good friend Elano was an adult.

This suited Legolas perfectly, because he preferred to conserve his strength to losing it with unnecessary talk. By the end of the day, his body and head were on fire, and he had never felt more tired in his life; not even during the long road to Helm's Deep. But he had concluded that the poison was a slow acting one, for which he was very grateful because he knew that until he had found Aragorn, and gotten Celin home safely, his duty as a teacher would still be incomplete.

He did not allow any of his thoughts to show on his face however, and rode with grim determination towards his goal.

That night, when they stopped to give their horses a rest, Celin insisted that he be allowed to put the salve on Legolas's back.

"No," said Legolas stubbornly, "I'm fine." He had already given up his pride and dignity two times, once when he'd pretended to beg the orcs for mercy, and the second time when he'd allowed Elano to tend his wounds. He was _not_ going to do so again.

But Celin was a hard one to argue with. He put his foot down, literally, and eventually threatened Legolas by saying that he would not move from this spot until Legolas allowed himself to be tended. As time was ticking on, the teacher yielded, but he was _not_ happy about it.

When Celin had removed the bandages from Legolas's torso, he gasped at the sight of the horrible wounds. True, they were much better because of the salve Elano had put on them, but they were still a horrific sight.

It struck the boy that if he had listened to Legolas about his ankle in the very beginning, none of this would have happened. Anguished, guilty tears formed in his eyes, and his vision blurred. He could barely see what he was doing as he applied the salve.

Legolas wondered why Celin was being uncharacteristically clumsy, but when his back stung by a salty liquid, he turned to find Celin weeping hard but silently over his wounds.

Legolas comforted the boy by telling him that it was not his fault. It was actually his own fault for even allowing Celin to come on the trip, but he did not regret it he aded quickly at the look on Celin's face.

Legolas even went so far as to say that was one of the few people who had a special regard for him, and among all the enemies he had made in the class, Celin was a priceless gem. Finally when the salve was applied and more bandages wrapped around him, Legolas got up and told his charge to sleep while he took watch.

The latter stared in disbelief, "No, sir, you are exhausted, you haven't slept in weeks," he said, amazed that sir could even think such a thing possible.

"Celin, I'm fine, truly. You go to sleep. Even if you take watch, I can hardly sleep anyway, I'm far too worried for Ivana." This last bit was true, but Celin would not back down without a fight.

After a long and drawn out argument, Celin finally consented to Legolas keeping watch, but the boy said something that the teacher never forgot.

"You should trust us more, sir," he said half seriously as he lay down on his bedroll.

"What do you mean?" Legolas asked curiously.

"I know Elgalad and Pilinel went to sleep in their watch, and I know that I practically drowned when you took some rest last time. But if you would just give us a second chance, you would have more respect and admiration from us than if you keep awake for weeks on end and try to protect us in that ridiculous way. Not to mention that we would have thought more highly of you ages ago."

Legolas was at a loss for words. He had never thought about it this way, strangely enough, and Celin's words had struck home.

The boy saw that his teacher had been taken aback by what he said, and wanted to think about it, so he turned over on his side and drifted into sleep a moment later, exhausted by the day's happenings.

Legolas mulled over Celin's words for a long time, after which he stole towards his pack to take out parchment and some ink he had saved from the letter writing over a fortnight ago. In the light of the moon and the stars he wrote a letter which later caused such pain and such happiness, that no one was ever certain if the letter was a mistake.

…

TBC…

Hello, people! Before I forget, I have an extremely important question that needs asking.

I know _some_ of you MUST be doing/have done/knows someone who has done A levels. More precisely, Cambridge A-levels. Around here, there is one school, called RIMS International, which offers A-levels for junior college (11th and 12th). As you probably know, you have to do three A-levels to be considered a graduate in most cases. That's excluding English Lang., which is compulsory.

So I'm going to do English Lit., and Psychology, and would have done history but they made a last minute decision that they wouldn't offer it. Now they want me to take Business Studies. Think that'll help me become an author?

And more importantly, can I possibly take four subjects- would I be biting off more than I can chew?

Since there's no one here who knows what 'A-levels' even comprises, I thought I'd have to turn to a Western audience who might know what I'm talking about. Give opinions please!

Review replies (thank you all for reviewing):

Lindahoyland: How old are you, exactly? I'm sorry for being this forward, but I seriously always thought you were 18 or 19. Now I realize if you were young in Blyton's era, you must really be in your late thirties! Talk about a totalshock!

What do you like among Blytons' works? The adventure stories, or the school ones?

Deana: Surprised as I was by the first review, I'm even moreamazed dropped a second review! PLEASE keep this up, I'm starting to enjoy it. I know you review a lot of stories, you are a fan of practically all the fics I ever read-at least you review all of them. Where on earth d'you get the time?You'll have to wait a while for the surprise; this story is turning out longer than anticipated (evil laugh). Not TOO long though.

Tavia: Thanks! Keep reviewing, please!

Kabuki733701: Yes, orc blades do seem to have a lot of poison on them, especially in this fandom. I wonder who makes all that poison for us crazed authors?

BitterLee: I would hurry up, butthis sitewon't let me, or anybody else for that matter, by looks of the LOTR page, log in. I don't expect you to drop reviews while working, so thanks for reading. Please keep reviewing on weekends, though.

WildBlackWolf and Viva: Werewolf attack is one thing that is NOT going to happen in this story, I assure you that.Are you a Lupin fan?I knew it was Elvish, not Elfish, must have been a typo that you pointed out. Or maybe the rule slipped my mind.I'm no expert at Tolkein languages, so I can't be that specific. Still don't quite know who speaks which language. Care to elaborate, please? Thanks!

Bye people! See ya!


	19. A Timely Meeting

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 19: A Timely Meeting

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

Legolas pressed on the next day, stopping only for very short periods of rest. Deep exhaustion was beginning to set into his limbs, and his worry was that he would succumb to the poison before he could find Aragorn and get Celin to safety.

During the night, he had bound his hand tightly with a length of cloth, but he was wearing a cloak so that Celin could not see the wound. The cloth had helped the bleeding a little, but the wound would keep throbbing with incessant pain, which Legolas was finding hard to hide in his facial expressions.

His back was still bleeding copiously, but he managed to hide this from Celin because his Elven cloak was thick. He wiped the blood from his back before it was time to apply the salve, so that Celin would not suspect anything was wrong with him.

Despite the fact that it was midsummer, Legolas felt cold, and pulled his cloak more tightly around himself, shivering. Icy sweat bathed his brow, and his head throbbed with incessant pain. He had a nasty suspicion that he was running a fever as well. He thought wistfully of a soft bed to rest his tired body, and then growled at himself for being so weak, pushing his horse forward in a burst of determination.

If Aragorn had been traveling with Legolas, he would have known that something was wrong with him in seconds, and would have done something about it as well. But alas, Legolas had made such a habit of not sleeping that all of the Elflings were quite used to his tired drawn face, dark circles, and pinched unhealthy look. Celin did not even notice the fact that he seemed more tired than usual.

As the day darkened to dusk, the sky became overcast with grey clouds. Legolas took a grim outlook on the situation, wondering what they would do if it started raining. To his dismay, there was a storm that evening, but he did not stop because of it, but rode on through the deserted footpaths, suppressing bouts of coughing as the icy wind whipped his fever flushed face.

At first, Celin thought it was a fine adventure to ride in the rain like this, but after half an hour of this novelty, he began to feel wet and miserable, and longed for the comfort of his tent.

An hour later, Legolas was just contemplating stopping for the night, when there was the sound of hooves trotting before them. A rider burst out of the darkness right in front of his horse.

"Who goes there?" he cried out, just as the rider asked the same thing equally loudly. The Man must have had extraordinarily sharp eyes to see them in this darkness, he thought in surprise, squinting at the hooded face.

"Some call me Strider," said a familiar voice, "Who-"

"Oh thank goodness, Estel!" Legolas exclaimed; quite overcome with relief. He embraced the bewildered Aragorn, and to the amazement of both, found himself sobbing into the Man's shoulder.

The reason for this outburst, though Legolas did not know it himself, was that he had been so much on edge in the past month, especially the past two days, that seeing had Aragorn brought a rain of relief and happiness to his heart. He had never been so happy to see anyone in his life, though the sight brought him a measure of pain as well, as he was acutely aware that he had let Aragorn down when he had let Ivana be hurt by orcs.

"What are you doing here?" Aragorn asked in surprise, gripping his friend's shoulder tightly, "Where are the children?"

"They're-" Legolas began, but a bolt of lightning illuminated his face for an instant, and it brought a wordless cry to Aragorn's lips.

"Legolas! What have you been doing to yourself, mellonamin!" Aragorn was horrified at the pale drawn face, the unhealthy dark circles, and the exhaustion so imminent in the other's face.

"I'm fine," Legolas said mechanically; he had gotten so used to this reply by now, he did not even have to think to give it.

Aragorn made a disbelieving noise in his throat and proceeded to give his friend a string of impassioned death threats, at which Legolas rolled his eyes and requested the former to stop mothering him like an overly anxious hen.

Celin cleared his throat, and stepped forward. He had remained silent until then because of his amazement at the way these two people, both of royal blood, were talking to each other. When they took classes together, they had always addressed each other with utmost respect. Now, however, both had forgotten such pretences.

Celin had taken in everything; Legolas's relief at meeting with Aragorn, Aragorn's concern for his unhealthy looking friend, the light-hearted banter they were sharing at that very moment. He realized why people said that this was the most immortal friendship on Middle-Earth.

But he knew that he would have to give _some_ excuse on Legolas's behalf for his drawn countenance, or the two friends would continue their argument seemingly until the end of time. So he drew attention to himself, and stepped forward.

"I believe I can explain why sir looks so unhealthy, my Lord," he said, addressing Aragorn.

Both of them turned towards him. Legolas's eyes widened in alarm, and he shook his head frantically at Celin from over Aragorn's shoulder, willing him not to give away the extent of his injuries. He could have kicked himself for forgetting that Celin was there.

"Celin!" Aragorn, on the other hand, was startled; he had not seen the boy until then, "What are you doing here? What are you both doing here?" he turned to Legolas.

Legolas suddenly remembered what he was there for, and wondered at how it could have slipped his mind. "Estel, Ivana is hurt," he said, bracing himself for the avalanche of questions which came a second later.

"What! How? What do you mean, hurt?"

"I have no time to explain all that, but she needs aid, Estel. She is badly hurt, in the stomach. You need to go and help her, fast. That is why I rode here with Celin, because we thought you were coming on foot and would need a horse to go back."

"I thought you might be pleased to see me a little earlier than expected," Aragorn explained, "Though apparently you had the same thought in mind, if you reached there so early. But what about Ivana? Where is she, and how did she get hurt?" Aragorn asked, concerned.

"She's at the willow tree, Aragorn, in the tree house. You know; the one we built together."

Celin stirred in surprise; it was news to him that Aragorn and Legolas had built the tree house.

"Who is tending to her? The children? Legolas, you _know_ you shouldn't have left the children alone like this…"

"Elano is tending her, Estel, and he's watching over the children. He's been deceiving us," Legolas hastened to explain at Aragorn's expression. What with everything that had happened, he had quite forgotten that Aragorn did not know about Elano being an adult. "Apparently he is not an Elfing of sixteen winters. He is already half a century old, he said so himself."

"Elano is an adult?" Aragorn said faintly.

"I can't explain all of this now, alright; there's no time!" Legolas said with mounting frustration, "Every minute we spend here talking idly brings that young girl closer and closer to death! Do you really need to hear all the answers now? When you get there, Elano and the rest will explain everything!"

_Including the way I got whipped half to pieces, _he added silently, _Wonder when you'll forgive me for not telling you about that minor detail._

"Alright, I will go now," Aragorn said resignedly, "But first, Celin will tell me why you're looking so unhealthy." He turned his gaze onto the Elfling questioningly, and Legolas did the same, with a measure of alarm.

Celin hesitated. He had not anticipated this position at all. If he told the truth, Ivana might possibly die because of the delay caused by Aragorn insisting to examine Legolas before leaving. If he lied, things might prove ill for Legolas.

In the end he decided on telling a half truth, "Sir does not trust us, my Lord," he said making Legolas smile wryly at him, "He will not let us take watch by ourselves during the night, but stays a wake to make sure we do the same. Indeed, I do not believe he has slept in weeks."

"He hasn't _what_!" Aragorn shouted, turning to Legolas in shock, "Are you crazy, you insane Elf?"

"You and I have heard those same words from Gimli's mouth on many occasions, so you will know by now what my reply is to that."

"Aye, and I do not like it one bit!" Aragorn retorted, glaring.

"As I remember, you were fairly amused by it when I used it on Gimli," Legolas said, lips quirking slightly at the corners, "As it involved some not-so-decent language."

Aragorn growled at Legolas and leapt onto his horse, knowing that they had wasted enough time talking already, "Just promise me you'll get some rest soon," he said to his friend.

"Soon," Legolas nodded; his smile fading as he was reminded how close he was to a rest that would last much longer than the one Aragorn had implied.

"Be safe," Aragorn said, and pulled on his horses reins.

"You too," Legolas called after the retreating figure, wondering with a pang if this was the last time he would see him in this life.

…

Aragorn rode hard, trying to escape the questions running through his mind. He was really worried about Legolas. He felt certain that the Elf was hiding something from him. Again and again, he thought back to the Elf's face, momentarily illuminated by the lightning, and tried to fathom what was wrong with it, apart from the imminent exhaustion. He knew there was something…

He quickened his pace, thinking that the faster he reached Mirkwood, the sooner he would find out the answers to all his questions. He had not liked to tell Legolas so, but he had almost no hope for Ivana. When someone was injured badly in the stomach, they did not live very long without expert attention. And it had already been two days since Ivana's injury, if he had calculated right. She was almost certainly already dead by now.

Another thought struck him, and it brought on a fresh wave of anxiety. Legolas was going to be in _real_ trouble, even supposing that Ivana survived her injury. Thranduil had promised that the consequences would be dire if Legolas allowed a female to get hurt, and he would keep his promise, even if it ripped his own heart out.

The King would show no mercy to Elano either. There was a price to pay for deceiving the royal family, and if he remembered correctly, it was nothing short of a long prison sentence.

_When is this going to end,_ Aragorn thought despairingly, _and WHEN is that blasted Elf going to stop getting himself into these scrapes? _

…

TBC…

Hey guys, sorry I took so long to update. Not much to say today, so may as well do revie replies. Thanks to all of you for reviewing.

Kabuki733701: Hm. You'll know all that soon enough. Though sometimes I wonder if ANYONE is going to appreciate my little (yeah, right) twists at all. Thanks for reviewing though.

Lindahoyland: I tried to use "I am well" in this chapter, but it didn't have the right ring. I don't think I can use it where I'm not convinced about it; but I'll keep in mind what you said. Thank you for reviewing. All I wanted to know about A levels was whether, if I took an extra subject, I would be biting off more than I could chew.

WildBlackWolf and Viva: At least your library keeps tabs of books. I had a book for two years, and no one ever knew about it. My friends have had books for five years. School libraries suck, right?

Thanks for pointing it out, you weren't being too critical. And thanks for the language info, will refer to it often.

It wasn't a lecture, and if there's one thing I've learnt from it's the fact that everyone's here to learn and receiving criticism from someone younger than you is FINE!

You shouldn't have started me on the subject of stupid teachers. I had a chem teacher who used the words 'as such' in every sentence at least five times. We counted once, and it reached 68 in an hour. Because as such electrons revolve around as such atoms…and why are you as such not listening to me? LOLOL!

And then once when we were doing air in class, and she goes, "There is air everywhere." Pause. "There is air in this classroom."

Guy: "There's air in the 9th too!"

Teacher: "Yes, there is air in this whole school. THERE IS AIR EVERYWHERE!"

Nuts! Sorry about this long reply, but hell you gave me a really long review. Do so again, I'm loving it.

See you all!


	20. A Shattered Facade

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 20: A Shattered Façade

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

Legolas and Celin stopped only for an hour that night, sheltering from the rain under an outcropping of rock. Legolas did not even want to stop for this long, but he knew that he must, for the horses' sake. His most frequent thought during this time was about his duty as a teacher, and how he _must_ get Celin to Mirkwood before he succumbed to the poison, which was beginning to take a very firm hold of him.

He told Celin that _he_ would take the watch, because he had a suspicion that if he slept, he would do so with his eyes closed, and Celin would discover his weaknesses. Celin, of course, would not agree to this arrangement without an argument.

"But sir, you promised King Elessar _you_ would get some sleep…" he said, in a tone that completely matched Aragorn's a few hours ago, concerned and exasperated.

"Actually, I _said_ I'd get some rest _soon_;" Legolas said with a ghost of a grin, "And soon is a relative term."

"But, sir, you really do need rest…"

"And I will get it," Legolas answered evasively, "Sooner than later."

"That is a relative term too, sir," Celin stated, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring balefully at his teacher.

"Please, Celin," Legolas said wearily, feeling that if he had to argue anymore, he would surely collapse from exhaustion, "Just do as I say without arguing."

"Alright, sir," Celin gave in abruptly and surprisingly, but his voice was thick with disappointment, "But I thought you had understood when I told you to trust me."

He lay down on his bed roll and turned his face away from Legolas before he had a chance to speak. The Elf looked on in sorrow. It was true; he _had_ understood what Celin had said. He had realized now that almost all of his students were very deserving of his trust, and even if they misplaced it once in awhile, it was nothing a second chance would not cure.

The letter he had written last night would prove that he trusted at least one student explicitly, trusted him as much as he trusted himself in certain matters. The only reason he was still refusing to rest was because he had absolutely no choice in the matter.

He sat down, hugging his knees to his chest, drawing his cloak close to keep the cold out of his bones. He was too tired to arrange his bedroll, so he sat on the ground, battling fits of exhaustion, fighting fever and the cold of the storm, shaking himself occasionally to keep awake. It did not help at all that he was soaked to the skin because of the rain.

It was probably the darkest hour in his life, for the thoughts that plagued his minds were far from pleasant. Wondering when he would see his father again; apologizing silently to Celin for 'not trusting' him; hoping that Aragorn would find Ivana in time to save her, beating himself up mentally for letting Ivana get hurt in the first place; and most of all thinking of all the things that could still go wrong during the next few days.

When the hour was up, he was more than happy to wake Celin; anything that distracted his thoughts even for a little while was more than welcome. To make peace with the boy, he allowed him to prepare a cold meal for the two of them, which he did with enthusiasm.

But when the meal was prepared, Legolas found that he could not eat it, because it made him feel nauseous. Yet he did not want to hurt Celin's feelings so he nibbled on the fruit, refusing to touch the cheese, which he said was 'too heavy' for him. Celin gave him a suspicious look, but said nothing as he put the cheese back into their bag of provisions.

Eating the fruit proved to be a huge mistake, however, and Legolas's undoing; for when an hour had passed, he suddenly dismounted from his horse, surprising Celin considerably, and was violently sick in a clump of bushes near by.

Celin gasped in concern and dismounted quickly, making towards Legolas. Though by this time the teacher was on his knees, retching horribly, he found the strength to raise a sweaty palm to stop Celin from coming any closer. But the young boy did not obey him, not this time.

He stepped forward resolutely and placed his hand under Legolas's forehead, which was much warmer than it should have been, and supported him as he retched and coughed violently. When the spell of sickness was over, Legolas rose shakily, breathing heavily, and wiped his mouth on his shirt sleeve. It was only a moment later when they both realized the significance of this.

As he vomited, he had unthinkingly unclasped his cloak and let it fall to the ground so that it would not get soiled. But when he had done that, the shoddily bound cut on his arm was exposed, as was Elano's bloodied shirt. As Legolas turned his gaze quickly to Celin's he saw the look of horrified understanding etched on the boy's face, and he knew with terrifying certainty that all his lies were now no more than a shattered façade.

…

As the sun began to rise, Aragorn sat back on his haunches, exhausted, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes impatiently.

"She's out of danger," he told Elano, as he regained his breath. The last hour had been a complete nightmare, but he had managed to save Ivana at the end of it, though the struggle had taxed his body and mind relentlessly.

Elano's features lit up with joy as he heard that Ivana would live, and relieved tears poured down his cheeks. During the last four days, he had never left Ivana's side except when he absolutely had to, and then only for very short periods. His shirt, which he had not thought to change, was stained with Ivana's blood, and his features had become gaunt and haggard from all the anxious, anguished hours he had spent beside his friend.

Looking at him, Aragorn thanked the Valar that he had arrived a few hours earlier than anyone would have expected, because he had ridden so hard and fast. As every passing hour brought Ivana closer to her death; it had also brought Elano closer and closer to a nervous breakdown.

Looking at his face, Aragorn had hardly any heart to bombard question him on what had happened, but he knew he had to, for Legolas's sake. He was still hoping it was no more than an accident during practice, but he had a feeling that if this were the case, Legolas would have told him so without any hesitation.

"What happened, Elano?" he asked, wishing he could make this easier somehow.

Elano shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts, and wiped his face with a hand that made it even dirtier than it already was. "Orcs," he said at length.

Aragorn's heart sank, but he waited in silence for Elano to continue, which the Elf did after a moment's silence, "They came when we were just setting up camp here. Sir heard them and told us to climb the trees and stay still. But Celin's ankle played up again and…"

But this was news to Aragorn; he had not been there when Celin had first displayed his weakness, and had not met Legolas since then, so he did not know that there was anything wrong with Celin's ankle.

When Elano had explained the situation properly, he took a deep breath, and then asked, "How did Celin manage? With his ankle, when his ankle was-?"

"He didn't manage," Elano replied in a heavy tone, "He couldn't, because he fainted because of the pain. Sir saved him. He gave up his pride and dignity, he protected Celin's body with his own, pretended not to know the Common Tongue, pretended to beg them to show him mercy in Elvish, while actually telling us not to move from where we were..." his voice shook unsteadily, and it was a few moments before he could continue, "He saved our lives, and would have given up his, to save Celin, but he regained consciousness and yelled at all of us to help, and then we shot arrows at the orcs from the trees, and Ivana jumped down to help, and I think you can guess the rest."

Aragorn glanced at him, nodding. He could indeed guess the rest.

Something else struck him, and he asked, "How badly was Legolas injured?"

"Badly; he was whipped on the back. But the salve I gave him should work well."

Aragorn did not reply. He was thinking back to his meeting with Legolas and trying to figure out _what_ had been wrong with the Elf's appearance. He had been holding himself stiffly, Aragorn remembered, because of the whip lashes.

His skin had been hot to the touch…almost feverish? he mused, hot skin, when it was _raining cats and dogs!_ How could that be? And his voice had been reedy, Aragorn remembered with a sudden burst of anxiety. He hadn't been glowing as Elves usually did, either.

A terrible possibility came to Aragorn's mood, and try as he did to dismiss it, he could not. "Did you check Legolas's wounds for poison?" he asked Elano, dreading the answer.

Elano's eyes widened in shock as he remembered that he hadn't. This sign was all Aragorn needed.

"Stay here, and take care of the children. I'm going to Legolas."

"Why…?" Elano was bewildered, "My Lord, there is no reason to believe that sir is

poisoned-"

"I saw him," Aragorn interrupted, as he rose to climb down from the tree house, "There was something wrong with the way he was walking. His voice was reedy. His skin was hot, and he wasn't glowing at all. If it isn't poison, then it's certainly something that needs to be worried about!"

"This is all my fault, sir," Elano said, his voice thick with guilt and anguish, "If I had checked sir over-"

Despite the urgency of this situation, Aragorn could not in good conscience leave Elano to torture himself endlessly with this thought.

He interrupted firmly, "I have known that Elf for years on end, and I know that if he makes up his mind _not_ to let you do anything for him, you cannot do it. He must have rushed you through the examination- the way he has me on countless occasions- in such a way that you could not even breathe easily, let alone make lengthy observations. You have no cause to blame yourself for this. If anything, it was _my_ fault for not realizing immediately upon seeing him."

Elano nodded gratefully, "Thank you, my Lord, I needed to hear that, but this isn't your fault either."

"I can see we're not going to agree on that last point, so we may as well leave it be. What I want to know is how you kept Ivana alive for so long, until I came?" Aragorn asked fleetingly as he started climbing down.

"It was a family heirloom," Elano said, face clouding over at the thought, "One I should not have used under any circumstances. A potion that made her remain in the same state of illness for a period of four days. It was given me by my mother, and it was given her by hers, and so on."

"You don't regret using it, do you?" Aragorn asked surprised at Elano's expression, pausing with one foot placed on a tree branch.

"No, of course not, my Lord, now that it's saved her. But I was so afraid that I was condemning her to a slow, painful death, because there was so little hope you would come in time to save her. Indeed if it hadn't been for Ivana herself convincing me, I probably wouldn't have used the potion at all!"

"Why, what did Ivana say?"

"She wanted to tell sir something very important, and she begged me to keep her alive until he returned."

"What did she want to speak to _Legolas_ for?" Aragorn asked surprise. The last time he had checked; hadn't Ivana and Legolas been at logger heads?

"She would not tell me, my Lord," Elano answered truthfully.

There was a pause, and then Aragorn began to climb down the tree with renewed speed. "Take care of them Elano," he called to the dark head bending towards him from over the tree house, "And get one of them to watch Ivana for you, and get some sleep. And you would do well to change your clothes as well," he added as an afterthought, "They are completely stained with blood."

He whistled to the nearest horse and grabbed it by its reins when it sauntered up to him. Within seconds, to the amazement and consternation of all the other students, he was gone.

…

TBC…

Hey guys! Good to see you all again. I'll let you all go, after I ask a question. If I spaced out a little, and wrote a bit fanfiction for Harry Potter, Ella Enchanted, etc. APART from LOTR (because there's no way I'm going to give up on LOTR fanfiction, LOL! NEVER!) then what would you guys say? Would you review the other stuff, or do you want me to always have a LOTR fanfic going on the side along with all the other stuff?

Just a random thought, to which I WANT AN ANSWER. If you tell me that it's up to me, I'll strangle you all.

Okay, thank you for reviewing all of you. I LOVE reading your reviews. Here are the replies:

Angela: Thanks! You'll find out soon enough about the other stuff, as this story is nearing conclusion. 'Nearing' being a relative term, LOL!

Kabuki733701: Many thanks.

Lindahoyland: Hm. I'm glad you think so. I guess I won't take any extra A levels then, since you couldn't manage three properly, four seems a bit much for me. Why did I think you were so young? I have no idea. I think I saw someone else's photo on their profile and thought it was yours. That person was pretty young.

Thank you for offering, I will mail you when I have need. Thank you for reviewing.

WildBlackWolf and Viva: Hi! Your project sounds SO COOL! Jawbreakers? Spearmint? Marshmallows? YUMMMMM! You go to an American school, don't you? I used to go to an American international school (Jakarta International School) for two years, and I had my share of interesting projects.

Back here, a school project means neatly handwritten work on A-4 size sheets, manually drawn borders, a well-decorated title page, and no mistakes at all! In JIS, I picked up the habit of typing projects on the comp, and when I came back to India, I had a hard time making my handwriting good again. Still isn't that good, I'm always using an ink eraser on my projects.

Yup, 68 times in an hour! Since I can't interest you with my boring projects, I'll tell you about my interesting teachers. There was this one multi-talented guy; history teacher, pianist, sculpter (our school is a very art-oriented place, I did an exam on vocal music), and a bunch of other things. He was only 24, but spoke like an old Englishman, had a beard, and wore clothes from different cultures every week. (Once he even dressed like an Arab, LOL!)

Anyway, this guy had an affliction for the lingo of today's generation. When we said 'yeah' to something, he'd say, "The word is yes, not yeah, say yes twenty times, please!" What a scream! When I met him during my exams he asked me, "How have you been faring hitherto in your examinations?" I nearly died, he sounded like Henry Higgins from 'My Fair Lady'.

Thanks for putting me on your bookmarks, can't see what's so sad about that, I'm pretty flattered actually. Tell me about the carrot project, please.

Okay guys, see you next update. BYE!


	21. A Meeting With Aragorn

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 21: A Meeting with Aragorn

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

The moment Aragorn left the clearing; the children surrounded the tree house, shouting questions up to Elano.

"Why did he leave?"

"Where did he go?"

"What did you say to him, Elano?"

"Where's sir?"

"How's Ivana?"

"Yes, how _is_ Ivana, Elano?"

Elano climbed tiredly down from the tree house, raising a placating hand to silence the questions as he jumped to the ground from a low branch. Catching Linnor's eye, he jerked his head upwards in a wordless request for her to sit with Ivana. In a moment she was climbing up, unnoticed by the others, who were all gazing intently at Elano and awaiting an answer.

Ivana is fine," Elano said, to the general relief of all. No one liked Ivana particularly, but they certainly would not wish death upon her. Their jubilation lasted only for a few moments; however, and then their minds turned anxiously to Aragorn's departure.

"King Elessar has gone to seek sir," he said in reply to their queries.

"But why?" Linnor asked from above them; evidently she had been listening in on the conversation.

"He met sir on the way here and…" Elano's voice shook and died as he struggled to retain control of his emotions.

"And?" Linnor pressed him.

"He thinks that sir may be poisoned, by an orc blade," Elano answered in one breath.

He was greeted by blank silence, "But if sir _was_ poisoned, then wouldn't King Elessar have done something to help him? He knew about the orcs attacking us, did he not?" someone, Elano was never sure who, asked bewilderedly.

"Actually he didn't know," Elano answered, frowning slightly, "He asked me what happened to sir just moments ago. I suppose sir led him to believe that it was an accident at practice which caused Ivana's injury, because when Lord Aragorn came here, he had absolutely no idea of what was going on."

"You mean, sir didn't _tell_ him!" Linnor exclaimed, horrified.

"No…he didn't," Elano answered, irritated with himself for not having made this inference before.

"So how does he know that sir is-?" somebody else began, but Elano cut him off before he could finish.

"He doesn't know," he said, "He saw how tired and pale sir was looking because, you know how he hasn't been sleeping; and he asked me if I had checked him for poison. I said no, it hadn't occurred to me, so he said he would go and seek sir out to check if he really was poisoned. There's every reason to believe he isn't though."

He gave everybody a tired smile, trying to make light of the situation for their sakes, but nobody was fooled by this. For once they were all silent as they thought of the implications of Legolas being poisoned, glancing at each other in a fruitless search for comfort.

Elano broke the silence by asking in a rather forced matter-of-fact tone, "Does any one have a change of clothes that I can borrow?" He smiled ruefully, "I feel as though I've worn the same thing for decades."

"I have a shirt," Elgalad replied.

"You can borrow my trousers," Pilinel said at the same time.

"Thanks," Elano said gratefully. "It's time for the next lot to go up to the tree house to sleep. Try not to-"

"We won't disturb Ivana, Elano," the class chimed together, rolling their eyes at each other. They had heard the same words so many times in the last few days that they knew them by heart and felt no need to be reminded _again_.

Elano smiled sheepishly and continued from where he had left off, "Will you handle the lots yourselves? I don't remember whose turn it is and I'm far too tired to follow you up on this."

This sentence had the desired effect; for aside from angry shouts and protests, the children did exactly what he wanted them to, with a great deal of fervor, in an attempt to prove that the did _not_ need to be 'followed up'.

If Elano's mood had been lighter, he would have smiled, amused by his success. He walked a little way from the clearing and changed quickly in a thicket of trees, after which he went up to the tree house, and washed his face with water from his own supply.

He felt a little better after this, but was still rather inclined to weep every time he thought about his mistake in not checking Legolas's wounds for poison. He leaned against the wooden wall of the tree house, in the only place unoccupied by sleeping Elflings. Though he had expected to be too worried to sleep, his exhaustion overcame his anxiety, and his eyes slid closed in a testament to his exhaustion.

…

Celin looked over his shoulder worriedly. Arod was lagging behind, for he had sensed that Legolas was injured or hurt in some way. What worried Celin, however, was that Legolas was no longer trying to urge the horse forward as he had been doing during the past few hours. It appeared that even Legolas's strong will could be broken by the orcs' poison.

Ever since Legolas's pretence had fallen over a day ago, his already fragile health had deteriorated rapidly. Now Legolas could barely sit on his horse without feeling nauseous, let alone _think_ of food.

Gradually during the long hours, their roles reversed, and instead of Legolas leading Celin to safety, it became Celin who was leading Legolas to safety. The boy pushed his teacher relentlessly to his limits, not allowing anyone to rest for more than half an hour, for he knew with chilling certainty that time was of the essence.

The horses were exhausted, thought Celin, regretfully patting his own on the head, but it was nothing compared to how ill Legolas seemed to become with every passing hour.

He cast another look back at his ailing teacher, and with a horrified gasp doubled back and quickly caught him before he slid off his horse.

Legolas said something soothing to the agitated Arod, and muttered something about feeling dizzy to Celin, inwardly cursing himself for once again displaying weakness. He leaned forward to coax Arod to ride a little faster, but Celin, guessing his intent, caught him by the shoulder and shook his head firmly.

"Stop, before you fall off again," he said, dismounting

Legolas's eyes widened in surprise as his student started rummaging in his bag of supplies, "What are you doing?" he all but croaked, "You know we can't stop-"

"Don't talk, conserve you strength, sir," Celin muttered distractedly, drawing out a length of rope.

Gently, he pushed Legolas down so that he was lying with his head on the horse's neck. Ignoring various protestations from his amazed teacher, he tied the older Elf to the horses back securely so that he could not fall off.

Arod looked decidedly amazed by this odd arrangement, but he bore with the situation out of love for his Elven master, as Celin had hoped he would. Legolas was nearly beside himself when Celin had finished.

"Why have you done this?" he asked, struggling to move from his lying down position.

"I've tied you so you won't fall, sir," Celin answered in a tone that made it clear that he would not be moved to do anything else, "Try to get some sleep."

"Sleep? In this position?" Legolas said, wondering if Celin had taken leave of his senses, "I'm going to be sick if I have to ride like this!"

"Sir, I don't think you could become sicker than you are already," Celin answered, "Just…shut your eyes and try to rest."

Without listening to another word from his protesting teacher, Celin mounted his horse and kept on riding in the direction of Mirkwood. Arod followed soon after, and presently Legolas decided not to speak anymore, for fear of being sick on opening his mouth. To his surprise, he _was_ able to sleep fitfully, but not for more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time because of the roughness of the road beneath his horses hooves.

A few hours later, Mirkwood's borders were in sight, to the acute relief of both teacher and student. Another hour passed, and they had plunged into the woods. But here Celin did not know his way through the winding pathways and the many forks, having only used them once.

He reluctantly awoke Legolas to ask for directions. Of course, Legolas insisted that he be untied so he could _see_ where they were going, and Celin complied grudgingly because he knew that losing their way would be worse than anything else that might happen.

They rode on for a while until they reached a clearing. Legolas stopped and dismounted, bidding Celin to do the same.

"We're close," Legolas said by way of explanation, as he flopped down on the forest floor, far too tired to stand, "Climb a tree, and see if you can spot the others."

Celin nodded and climbed the tallest tree in sight. He spotted the willow tree with its tree house almost at once.

"I see it, sir," he told Legolas.

"Then you will know your way there from here, won't you?" Legolas asked.

"Yes, of course I will, sir" Celin said decisively, about to add that he would tie Legolas to his horse so he could sleep again, for the camp was still an hour's ride away.

"Then you must go on without me."

"What?" Celin said in shock, climbing down the tree and facing Legolas, "Sir, you know I cannot do that!"

"Celin, it will only slow us down if I continue," Legolas said, "Surely you can see that?"

"Yes, but I-" Celin began, but Legolas cut him short.

"Go to Aragorn and give him this letter," he said firmly, drawing the letter out of his pocket and handing it to Celin, "Send him to heal me."

Celin looked at Legolas in confusion. It was not like the teacher to actually propose that he go on alone through the perilous forests of Mirkwood. Nor was it like him to ask someone to go and find help for _himself_. In fact, Celin had thought that Legolas would try and keep up his pretences in front of Aragorn, and had been envisioning having to tell tales on his own teacher.

He wondered suspiciously whether his teacher was up to something, and Legolas, sensing his doubt, bade him "Go!" with more firmness than Celin had sensed he possessed.

"Alright," the boy said at last, "Wait here, sir, and I will send Aragorn as soon as I can."

"I know you will," Legolas smiled in relief, "Keep your sword at the ready and if you hear or see anything suspicious, climb the trees. Look out for spiders."

"Don't worry, sir," Celin said, "Just promise me you'll be here when we come to find you."

"Mmm," Legolas replied, not quite meeting his eyes.

Celin frowned at him suspiciously, "I mean it, sir!"

"Of course you do," Legolas said, "Now hurry up, before it's too late."

Celin gave Legolas another suspicious look; but he mounted his horse and rode swiftly out of the clearing. As soon as he was out of sight, Legolas shifted his position on the ground, and took out his emergency dagger from his boot.

…

Celin had only been riding for two minutes, when he heard horse hooves sound before him. He stiffened and dismounted quickly, looking around for a place to hide his horse. There was none. He drew his sword and waited with a quickened heartbeat for the rider to emerge near the turning of the path, planning to surprise the rider into submission.

But when the rider came within sight, Celin lowered his sword and stepped forward with a joyful cry. "Lord Aragorn!"

"Celin!" the Man said, pulling on his horses reins, "What are you doing here all alone? Where is Legolas?"

"Legolas is in the clearing that you will find if you follow this path," Celin answered him, "He has been poisoned by an orc blade, my Lord-"

Aragorn groaned as his worst fears were realized, and was about to ride off again, when Celin shouted suddenly, "Wait! I nearly forgot, he told me to give you this letter," Celin handed him the letter and as Aragorn started to unfold it he asked, "By the by, my Lord, how is Ivana?"

"She is well, I was able to save her," Aragorn said distractedly, as he began to read the letter.

He had not read two lines, when he gasped and dropped the letter as though it had burned him. A moment later, he pulled on his horses reins and rode down the path as fast as he could, leaving an extremely confused Celin staring after him.

…

TBC…

Hello people! Sorry about the chapter title, couldn't think of anything better than that.

Today I have another question, or rather a topic to raise with you. The topic of Mary Sues (don't worry WildBlackWolf and Viva, this has nothing to do with you, Ivana's been called a Mary Sue before this). When I asked, in this very story, what a Mary Sue was, exactly, I was told more or less that she is a female original character with a flawless personality (no faults at all!), beautiful, and always falling in love with a canon character such as Legolas or Aragorn (I don't think an MS has EVER fallen in love with Gimli, LOL!).

But what I don't get is the fact that everyone is prejudiced towards the females. Why never the men? Elano, for example, has a very, very sweet personality, almost flawless personality. But no one's ever called him a Mary Sue. Also, we make even Aragorn and Legolas really REALLY perfect in our stories. They are always saving peoples' lives, etc. etc. Are they Mary Sues then?

For me, I'll read any story, MS or not, if it's well written with a good plot. I just want to hear everyone's opinion on this, and perhaps looked into the bias against women that most of us, including myself (for this struck me only recently), are party to.

Anyway, that's enough for now. Review replies:

Kabuki733701: Thanks, I appreciate it.

Lindahoyland: My best yet? Thanks! Healing scenes? I'm afraid I'm gonna disappoint you, but I was planning to gloss that over the way I did with Ivana. Don't get me wrong, I HAVE looked on the net. I found this information on the properties of herbs of medieval Europe and what they could cure, but I'm at my wits end trying to figure out how those herbs can be used. If you gave me a good site to check on, I will try and include healing scenes, but I'm afraid not as much as you have in your stories because I don't have too much talent for such things. You may have noticed how I always say 'herb' or 'shrub' but never give the name of the herb in my stories.

Ella Enchanted is a best seller by Gail Carson Levine (I think that's how you spell it). It was made into a movie last year and I loved it, don't think it was a huge hit though. Thanks for reviewing!

James: Welcome back! It's been ages since you reviewed this.

WildBlackWolf and Viva: Naughty, naughty. Breaking an entry. I'm going to call the cops! Sorry about that, I went a little nuts for a second.

Yes, English is practically my first language. That's because my mum and dad come from different parts of India, and thus did not have a common language to speak in except English. Thus I grew up listening to English at home (and am ashamed to say that I only know one Indian language- and that not very well). Not to mention the two years spent at JIS.

I seem to be a lot different than you; I'm okay at science and math, I suck big time on Geography, but I'm good at music, history and English. You seem to be more of a science person, yet you read fanfiction. Then again, you don't write it. What the hell am I saying? SERIOUSLY.

I can guarantee that Ivana has no romantic feelings for Legolas, but please answer the question asked above. I want to know what you mean exactly, when you say you hate a Mary Sue. Just want to hear your opinion, don't take this the wrong way.

Weird teachers. Hm. History I think. The woman who was said to be the beauty of the school until she decided, abruptly, to cut all her lovely hair off as short as though she'd shaved it. Not to mention she wears a huge bindi (big red dot) in the center of her head. It looks terrible with the short hair.

Until the ninth, she scared us to death by not appearing to have any knowledge of what the word 'syllabus' means. Then in the 10th suddenly she didn't know the meaning of any other word apart from that. In the ninth she made us right an essay on whose life we'd save, an ant's or a dog's. Something about Buddha. We wasted two classes debating that. I said all the right things, but some people never learn.

Someone said that there are too many ants anyway, so why not let one or two die, and she accused them of being Hitler. Not to mention, she cried every time she did Buddha with us.

Okay, I got to go now. Give me a long review on whatever you wannna talk about. See you!


	22. Legolas Causes a Storms of Emotions

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 22: Legolas Causes a Storm of Emotions

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

Celin stared after Aragorn in complete confusion. _What just happened? _He looked around wondering what he was supposed to do now that Aragorn had gone. He knew that he was inexperienced and would be a hindrance to Aragorn if he hovered around Legolas trying to help, but he did not want to leave his teacher when he was this vulnerable.

_But then, he did tell me to go back to the clearing,_ he mused, _Is_ _that what I am expected to do?_ He waited in a few moments' indecision, but finally made up his mind. As he turned to mount his horse, he caught sight of the letter on the ground where Aragorn had dropped it.

He picked it up, and was on the point of reading it when he realized that it was a letter written by a prince to a King. He could not _possibly_ open this letter in good conscience. Yet, as he folded it up and stuffed it quickly into his pocket he thought ruefully how much easier life would be if he did not _have_ a conscience.

…

Just as Aragorn rode into the clearing, Legolas let out a surprised hiss of pain. He had been so engrossed in contemplating the dagger that Aragorn's sudden appearance had startled him and he had accidentally cut himself.

"What do you _think_ you're doing with that dagger!" Aragorn roared, seething, wrenching it from his grasp.

"A-Aragorn?" Legolas stammered. He was finding it harder to grasp things than he normally did. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be-"

"Ivana is _fine_, Legolas, I saved her. It is you, however, who-"

"She is alright?" Legolas asked, interrupting him joyfully.

"_Yes_. But you, on the other hand, are _anything_ but alright. Why didn't you tell me you were poisoned?" he said, lowering his voice and dropping to his knees beside his friend.

"I…" Legolas was too disoriented to answer properly. The world spun in circles before his eyes, forcing him to clench them shut.

Aragorn saw the confusion on his friend's face; and felt all his anger fade to the back of his mind. "Where is your wound?" he asked urgently, concerned.

Legolas did not answer, instead he put his hand up to his head and massaged it, trying to block out Aragorn's voice, which was jarring his head horribly. He wished fervently that the adan would stop speaking. Suddenly he felt cold; and shivered slightly, opening his eyes. Aragorn had slipped his cloak off to examine him, he realized, as he felt the makeshift bandage on his arm being undone.

The Man stared at the cut in horror. It was a shallow one, but the skin surrounding it was black. It was bleeding copiously at a very steady pace, which worried Aragorn all the more. Had the Elf been bleeding like this for _four days_?

His eyes traveled up and down the rest of Legolas's body to see if there was more damage done which he had not seen. He touched Legolas's blood stained shirt, and to his surprise and horror, found it wet.

His hand traveled to the Elf's back, causing him to groan in pain. Heart beating fearfully, he shifted so that he was behind Legolas, who was too dizzy to pay any attention, and lifted his shirt to look at his back. Sure enough, the Elf was heavily bandaged.

Slowly, he cut the shirt off Legolas's torso with the Elf's dagger, knowing intuitively that it would cause him too much pain to remove it in the normal fashion. The Elf shivered violently as his bare skin came in contact with the air.

Once again, Aragorn was aghast at the sight that met his eyes. Legolas's back was _covered_ with blood-soaked bandages. The bandages were so wet with blood that they stuck to Legolas's wounds, so that Aragorn was able to make out the outlines of the whip lashes beneath them. His fists clenched in anger for the orcs that had done this to his friend.

Legolas had by this time recovered himself sufficiently to declare faintly that he was quite alright, and there was no need to check his wounds, thank you very much. Aragorn silenced him with a look; and then proceeded to remove the bandages from his back.

As the last bandage came undone the Man gasped again and involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut. Legolas's back was marred by red, bleeding stripes. The lashes were even worse than when Celin had seen them, for Legolas had not had the time to mop up the blood and clean the wounds a little to make them look better than they actually were.

"Oh, Legolas…" Aragorn breathed; his eyes filling as he gazed at his friends' hurts.

He touched Legolas's neck with the back of his hand and confirmed his worst fears; Legolas was running a fever. He needed help, and needed it quickly. His wounds desperately needed bathing, and there was also the not-so-small matter of the poison to contend with.

Much as he would have liked to tend his friend then and there, Aragorn knew it was nearly impossible to attempt a full scale healing process without aid. He needed at least one person to boil water and prepare the herbs and bandages. He bit his lip and thought for a moment.

"Legolas?" he said gently, squeezing his friend's hand, "I'm going to take you to the tree house so we can heal you. Can you move to the horse?"

"There's no point, Aragorn," the Elf said, massaging his head again, "It is best that I die here and now, rather than…" his voice trailed off, and he looked at Aragorn, hoping he could make the Man understand without words.

As he feared, the latter would have none of it. "Don't you talk like that!" he said, anxiety making him harsh as he glared down at the Elf, "You're not going to die here, or anywhere else for that matter."

"_Aragorn_…" Legolas began again, but he found himself unable to say what was on his mind. What was he supposed to say? _Aragorn, won't you just turn around for a second so I can kill myself? _

Instead he tried a different tactic. "Didn't Celin give you my letter?"

"Yes, and I read the first two lines and dropped and ran out here. What were you thinking, writing that when I received the letter _you_ would be dead?" He glared at his friend, "And _please don't try to find me, I will already be long gone_!"

"Aragorn…" Legolas said pleadingly, "It wasn't like that. If-"

"I don't care how it was!" Aragorn retorted in a tone that allowed for no argument, "All I care about now is getting you to that tree house so I can tend you properly. And if you dare protest, you'll have a hard time of it."

"Alright," Legolas said, giving in and getting to his feet. The movement jarred his head horribly, and he squeezed his eyes shut as the world spun around him. He would have fallen if Aragorn had not steadied him with a hand on his shoulder.

Even this touch, though gentle enough, caused Legolas considerable pain, though he tried hard not to show it. Aragorn surveyed him with a frown, wishing he had been able to save Legolas's shirt. His own spare was wet from the previous night's storm.

Finally, for lack of anything better, he draped the Elf's cloak over his bare torso, thanking the Valar silently for the fact that Elven cloaks did not chafe at the skin like other cloaks did.

Legolas walked a step forward, but stopped immediately as another wave of dizziness overtook him. Aragorn glanced at him with a consternated expression, wondering what to _do_ with the stubborn Elf. The said Elf walked forward again and squeezed his eyes shut.

Deciding that enough was enough; the irate adan stepped forward and swept Legolas up into his arms. The Elf kicked feebly, and protested vehemently. Not withstanding, Aragorn pushed him onto his horse, and got up behind him.

"Don't! I implore you Aragorn, leave me here," Legolas said pleadingly.

"_Legolas_," Aragorn said warningly.

"Well, at least let me ride Arod! I'm strong enough to- ouch!" The Elf reeled back against Aragorn, the pain in his head reaching an almost unbearable pitch as the Man pulled on his horse's reins.

"You were saying?" Aragorn glanced at Legolas, raising an eyebrow at him as he gripped him tightly.

He received no reply; for Legolas had gone into a faint. Aragorn looked down at his friend's exhausted features, and suddenly felt a lump in his throat. Swallowing it, he increased his pace.

….

Celin arrived at the clearing twenty minutes earlier than Aragorn and Legolas did. He was instantly surrounded by all his classmates, some even climbing down sleepily from the tree house.

"Celin!"

"Where is sir?"

"And King Elessar- where is he?"

"Sir isn't poisoned, is he?"

Celin turned to Elano, who had asked the last question, surprised that he had guessed. "I'm sorry, Elano, but he is," he said gently.

"Valar." Elano crumpled visibly, feeling tears start in his eyes.

There was an awkward silence, where everyone looked at one another wondering what to say to him as he battled vainly with his emotions.

Then Celin stepped forward, and put a hand on Elano's shaking shoulders. "King Elessar is with him now," he said, with more conviction than he felt, "He _will_ be saved."

Elano groaned, putting his hands over his face, trying and failing to silence his anguished sobbing. Then in one movement, he bounded up the tree, and disappeared into the refuge of the tree house. Again, there was a stunned silence following his departure.

"You'd better go after him," Linnor said timidly, not looking at Celin, "Tell him this _isn't_ his fault."

The boy nodded mutely, and climbed up the tree more slowly than Elano had, his body language indicating very plainly his hesitancy. He took a deep breath and leapton to the wooden platform.

On one end, lay Ivana, sound asleep and resting peacefully. _That's_ a relief at any rate, Celin thought, as he shifted his gaze to Elano. The Elf, to his surprise was not weeping anymore, but staring blankly into space.

The only indication that he had ever been distressed was the fact that he was taking deeper breaths than usual. Other than that, he did not appear to even have _noticed_ Celin's presence.

"Elano?" Celin said, stepping forward tentatively, not knowing how to comfort someone who wasn't even showing any distress, "Are you-?"

"Please leave, Celin," Elano said tonelessly, "I wish to be alone."

"But I…" Celin did not know what to think or do. He had come up here to silence his friends' tears, but against this blankness, he was powerless.

"Please," Elano said, his voice barely a whisper. He met Celin's eyes, and the boy was startled by the depth of anguish and guilt he saw within them. He stepped forward uncertainly, knowing that Elano needed comfort, but not knowing how to give it to him.

"Just go," Elano repeated with more emphasis, "Please."

"This isn't-"

"My fault, I know," Elano said, in the same blank tone, "I've said it to myself a million times already. You can say nothing to make this better. _Please_ leave me alone."

Celin backed off, not knowing what to do. "Are you-"

"_Go_."

Not knowing what else to do, the boy climbed down the tree, wondering what he would say to his classmates waiting at the foot of the tree. As he prepared to climb, his clothing caught a branch and ripped. Swearing loudly, he did not notice the letter fall out of his pocket, and neither did Elano, until he turned to see if Celin had left.

Furrowing his brows he opened it to confirm it was Celin. He read the first two lines, and, like Aragorn, turned ashen and sunk to the floor. If the first two lines had been less horrifying, Elano would not have read the letter but Legolas had dropped his bombshell at the beginning and a howling gale could not have torn the letters from his hands now.

He was, strangely enough, the first person who had read the letter completely. Judging by his expression, its contents went from bad to worse. When he was done, he threw it aside and leapt to his feet.

"Celin!" he shouted, his voice edged with panic, "Give me a moment, please!"

"What is it, Elano?" Celin replied a few moments later. His eyes fell on the open letter, and he gasped. "Where did you get that?"

"It fell from your pocket. When did sir give it to you?"

"Two minutes before-" He was interrupted by shouts from his classmates.

"Lord Aragorn!"

"Sir!"

"What-?"

Elano and Celin dashed down the tree as quickly as they could but they both stopped short at what they saw. Aragorn was walking into the clearing as fast as he could, carrying Legolas in his arms. To everyone's horror, the Elf was unconscious.

…

TBC…

And on that wonderful note, we will end this chapter. (dives under the bed to avoid things that the reviewers are throwing at me). Right. Now that you've finished killing me, I can breath freely, LOL!

First off, thank you to all those who commented on the Mary Sues. You were all right. I had no idea that Gary-Stus existed, but am gratified to here it (embarrassed pause) I'm afraid that I went off on a deep end with the 'prejudice' stuff.

Also, though I did not realize it, you're all correct about Aragorn, Legolas, and Elano. I love those three so much (especially the first two) that I could not even SEE the faults I had given them in this story. I don't know what that says for me, but I was happy to realize that they DO have faults. Makes 'em more human, doesn't it?

If some of you dislike Ivana, I'm happy to hear it. That's what I was trying to get you to do from the beginning almost, and I feared I'd failed along the way. I just hope you don't hate her TOO much, because as we will soon find out, she isn't that bad!

If anyone's looking for a good book, try 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown. The man rocks beyond comprehension.

Review replies:

Kabuki 733701 and darkangel333: Thanks a ton for reviewing, both of you please continue.

Tavia: You flatter me, thank you VERY much. Your 'two cents worth' was well worth reading. Is Tavia your real name?

FallenTruth: Read to find out!

Lindahoyland: The sites didn't appear in the review. Don't give me actual links just say or something like that.

Thank you, I'll probably use athelas or something equally run of the mill. Are you by any chance, a doctor or something? The question opens up now that I know you're not a teenager, LOL. Sorry about that.

Someone accused YOU of writing porn? Hello? Do reviewers even have brains on this site? (Doesn't include all the nice reviewers, LOL).

WildBlackWolf and Viva: I seem to have that scary affect on a whole lot of people. My friends are constantly telling me I'm scaring them.

Does that mean I suck at updating TOO? (grins) Don't worry, I'm joking. I know what you meant. Just because you suck at writing doesn't mean you can't write! (blinks) Did I just say that? Tell me to stop if I'm scaring you again.

Yes, I love dogs too (have a boxer named Bozo), and OF COURSE I would save the dog and not the ant, but it's better say what the teacher wants to hear, not what you actually think. Works like a charm. That's why I thought my friend was being silly- but not complaining, because his arguing wasted more class time.

Buddha. Hm. He was born in India as the son of a Great King. (There are so many of those in our stories, that one starts to wonder, LOL!) A priest-cum-prophet said that he'd either grow to be another Great King or a hermit. The King wanted the former, so he tried to shield Gautama (that was his name, if I'm not mistaken) from reality until one day, when the man went outside the palace walls for the first time, he saw death and illness.

He also saw a hermit in a state of quiet happiness (which he called 'nirvana') that was unaffected by outside happenings. Determined to find the state of 'nirvana' he went to various hermits who made him fast unto death and all sorts of stuff.

Once he settled under a tree and became enlightened. (Don't ask, I don't know how). Thus he became the Buddha, or the Enlightened One. He preached about how desires made one want material things, and when one lost them one was sad. Thus, get rid of desire to get nirvana.

Years later, Ashoka, a King, wanted to take over all the land surrounding him. He waged a war on Kalinga for this purpose, and then suddenly walked around the battlefield, repented, and spread Buddhism everywhere. When he died, Buddhism became a huge rival of Hinduism and was quelled as a result. It no longer exists so much here, as it does in Tibet and stuff.

We did do Christianity, in 8th and 9th grade. Yes, we did Martin Luther, Protestant Reformation, Renaissance, counter-reformation, and a whole lot of other stuff. Even touched on the Mayflower, Puritans, and…it's all jumbled up in my mind actually.

Ha ha, to the duct tape and the bacon story. 'Twas funny. I think I'll say bye now, I've written REAMS. See ya!


	23. Healing Legolas

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 23: Healing Legolas

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

"Elano! Help me, please!" Aragorn shouted as he laid Legolas face down on the ground.

Elano dashed forward, and swiftly removed the cloak from his teachers' shivering frame. He cried out in horror at the sight that met him, and quickly covered him up again before the children could see it.

Aragorn read his intent and shook his head violently, "It cannot be helped! Legolas is our concern now, and we cannot get him up to the tree house in this state. They will survive; children have a mind of metal when it comes to these things."

"Alright," Elano said after a moment, "But those of you who feel sick at the sight of blood, _please_ go away right now."

He removed the cloak from Legolas's back again and the children moved a step forward, curious to see what it was that had horrified Elano so much. When they did see it, there were gasps of horror, loud swearing and dismayed cries from some of the girls. The reaction was worse than even Elano had anticipated.

Half a dozen girls fled from the scene, and so did three or four boys, though all of them did so with the air of going for a casual walk in the woods. If the situation had been less dire, both Aragorn and Elano would have been amused.

The rest of them stared in horrified fascination, unable to look away. It was a picture that stayed with them for a long, long time. Some of them were never able to forget it.

In the meantime, Elano was issuing orders almost at the same moment as Aragorn thought of them, "Someone climb up, and get my pack! And start a fire and boil water, double quick. Someone get King Elessar's pack from his horse. The rest of you for the love of the Valar, keep out of the way."

Aragorn saw that everyone was going to fly off and get into each others' way, so he said sharply, "Please organize yourselves, that you may be as swift as is possible! Don't all go, and hinder each other in the process."

These instructions were carried out in record time, and soon Elano was mixing a potion to reduce Legolas's pain. Intuitively, the Elf left the Man who was more experienced in healing, to deal with the poisoning while he concentrated on the poison.

When the water was ready, Elano first bathed the wounds with warm water, and cleaned them as best as he could. Aragorn handed him a sprig of athelas and bade him put it in the water.

Surprised but obedient, Elano did so and watched in amazement as the 'kingsfoil' worked miracles on the bleeding lashes.

"I need you to hold him for me," Aragorn said a moment later, "I have to cut this wound and drain it before I can treat it."

He was referring of course, to the poisoned viy on Legolas's arm. Elano once again did as he was told, though his heart wrenched at the thought of causing his teacher more pain.

But Aragorn had the thing done in a blink of an eye, and Legolas only had time to scream in agony before the thing was done. Then Aragorn applied some juice of jewelweed to his arm, knowing that he must save the athelas for treating the poison _inside_ Legolas's body.

He opened Legolas's mouth by pressing at his cheeks, and poured athelas-water down it. He knew that athelas had so many healing properties that it was the best thing he could do for his friend.

Elano, in the meantime, was staring at the lashes on his teacher's back in consternation. He knew that honey would be the best thing for them, but where on earth was he supposed to find it? They were camped in the middle of the jungle!

Aragorn chanced to look up and see his face.

"What's the matter?" he asked, immediately anxious.

"You wouldn't happen to have any honey on you, would you, my Lord?" Elano asked rhetorically.

"No, you're right," Aragorn said, his heart sinking, "We'll have to make do with something else."

"Wha-?"

"Let me think," Aragorn's brow furrowed for a moment, and then his face cleared. "Don't you have Elven salves?"

"Yes, I even gave Legolas one, but obviously it didn't work."

"That was only because of the poison. It will work now."

"You really think so, my Lord?" Elano asked doubtfully, "Can't we just use more kingsfoil?"

"Yes," Aragorn said, "But we don't have enough, unfortunately, to be able to use so much of it."

"So I should use the salve?"

"The athelas-water I made him drink will help strengthen it. It should work fine."

"Alright, my Lord," Elano did not question Aragorn further, but did as he was sold.

With Aragorn's help he bandaged all of Legolas's numerous lashes. Then the two of them talked about what to do with Legolas.

"If orcs come again, then he'll be at risk," Aragorn said, "We can't exactly keep him here."

"Then let us build a litter my lord, and then pull it up by rope to the tree house."

"That would be best, but what if he falls off?"

"We could tie him to it, my Lord, could we not?"

"We could…but…" Aragorn hesitated. He did not want ropes to come anywhere near Legolas's body. He feared that it might send the Elf into shock. After all, it did look something like a whip, he reasoned.

Elano waited patiently to hear what Aragorn had to say. He was willing to take King Elessar's word on the matter. Much later, when he thought of it he realized that actually _he_ was older than the Man, being five hundred plus.

It struck him then as odd that he had been so sure that Aragorn was the more experienced healer, and not himself. But then, he thought, to heal a person well, one had to know them well. And if the stories were true, no one knew Legolas as well as Aragorn did.

Soon, the adan came to his decision, "We'll make a slightly broad litter, and dangle it from both sides, that we may pull him up without upsetting it."

"Yes, I believe that would work…class!"

"Yes Elano?" they chorused, though they had been listening to all that was said, and knew exactly what Elano wanted them to do.

"How many of you remember what sir taught us about building litters?"

Aragorn's head jerked in surprise. Legolas had taught them how to build _litters_? Had they really become _that_ skilled since he had last seen them!

Judging by what the class said, everyone remembered how to do this. Elano knew this was highly probable, considering how many hours Legolas had spent berating them to perfection. Aragorn, on the other hand, found it highly unlikely.

But in this instant, he sensed that Elano was the right one to make a decision, so he did not say a word as the Elf told them to organize themselves and do it as quickly as possible. He was highly doubtful how thatlast bit would work, but once again to his amazement, they were able to divide themselves in lots without too much argument.

He was still more amazed when they came back with a nearly perfect litter. They had even tied the right length of rope on either end. Aragorn was impressed. H almost congratulated his friend on a job well done; until he remembered with a sinking sensation that he may never get the chance.

Thus he was very much subdued as he climbed up to the tree house and prepared to haul Legolas up. It was a struggle, and it was a long time till they finally succeeded. With some foresight, Aragorn left the litter hanging from the sides of the tree house, knowing that it would serve as an excellent hammock if they built on it a little.

He sat down beside Legolas, and found to his alarm that his temperature was still not down yet. He walked towards a water-skin hanging from a branch above tree house, and dripped a yard of cloth into it.

He could hardly do better given the circumstances; he thought regretfully as he placed the cloth on his friend's forehead and then turned to Ivana. To his relief, her condition had improved greatly, and her stomach healing well. As he looked at her, his mind puzzled over what she had to say to Legolas that was so urgent. Had Legolas _actually_ made peace with Ivana; that she would want to confide in him?

An hour later there was no improvement in Legolas's fever. Elano was, by this time, also sitting cross-legged at Legolas's side, silent and anxious. He had not said a word to Aragorn about the letter, intuitively knowing that it wasn't the right time, but his thoughts were never far from it. He made up his mind to speak to Celin about it as soon as he could.

A movement from Aragorn caught his attention. "What are you doing, my Lord?"

"Just using a few of my healing powers to try and help him," Aragorn replied, and held his hands a few inches above Legolas's head and began chanting something in a language unknown to Elano.

Over the next few minutes Legolas's fever started decreasing, but Elano was alarmed to see how white and tired Aragorn was looking. As the color continued to drain from Aragorn's cheeks, Elano grew more and more worried.

Finally, he grasped the adan's outstretched hands and pulled them away from Legolas's head. For an instant, he felt a measure of strength flood his body, then Aragorn's eyes flew open, and he looked dazed, as though he had just woken from a long sleep.

"My Lord!" Elano exclaimed, horrified when he realized that Aragorn was actually giving his own strength to Legolas, "Are you trying to kill yourself? Think of your wife and kingdom!"

Aragorn smiled weakly at Elano, thanking him silently for bringing him to his senses. Though he loved his friend very much, he knew that his duty was to his kingdom first. Gondor was in no state to loose him, and neither was Arwen for that matter.

A decade ago, he would have readily given his life for Legolas, but now he had other attachments that could not be ignored. He sighed slightly at the thought, and for a moment the burden of kingship rested heavy upon him.

"Take some rest my Lord," Elano urged him.

Aragorn was too drained to argue. He lay down right next to Legolas and was asleep before he could say another word, trusting that Elano would wake him if something went wrong. Elano checked Legolas again, and found to his relief that the Elf's fever had gone down. Aragorn's technique had worked wonders.

Seeing that he would never get another opportunity to speak to Celin uninterrupted, he sent for the boy, and then pulled the letter out from under his cloak which he had dropped in his haste to help Legolas.

Celin came, and was full of questions about Legolas. Elano answered him to the best of his ability, and then without more ado, handed him the letter. Celin raised his eyebrows.

"I think you'd better read that," Elano said gravely, "It is cause for concern, and I think we should discuss it with the class."

"This is a letter from sir to King Elessar! We can't-"

"I _know_, Celin. Just…read it. It's _important_."

Celin took a deep breath, unfolded the letter, and began to read.

…

TBC…

Hi guys! This was ready for posting days ago, but for some reason, I didn't post it. The good news is, next chapter, you get to find out what the letter says. The bad news is; you've probably already guessed.

Hm. I wanted to say something...what was it? Oh yes. Please tell me, before Ivana talks to Legolas, from what you know now, how you would rate the following four in your order of preference: Celin, Ivana, Elano and Linnor. Give reasons too. (Good heavens, I sound like a text book! Lord save us!)

I'll ask you the same question again later, to see if there's any difference. And another thing. Junior college starts for me next Monday. It's going to be a tough year, doing 3 and a half A levels is hardly a joke, so please don't skin me alive if the updates become infrequent.

Also, just to warn you in advance, I have public exams in May/June 2006, and November 2006, which is horrible because that's when my birthday is. However, if this story continues till then, then no one will be more surprised than me.

All that said, I'll go on to review replies:

FallenTruth: Thank you, you flatter me, LOL. That's some rocking praise you gave me! What if I told you that I have all the stuff you asked about worked out in my head? Because I do!

Kabuki733701: I'm sorry about the cliffies. Hope this is soon enough for you. Though considering the end of this chapter, you may as well throw daggers at me!

Lindahoyland: I can see why someone would say you're obsessed with flogging (which you're not, it only serves as an excellent way to make complications in a story, as I know from personal experience) but errotic slash undertones? HELLO! Madness, perhaps?

Squeamish? I never would have guessed. (chuckles) Are you the sort of person who would run off if you saw Legolas's back?

SPOILERS UP AHEAD (for other reviewers) Angels and Demons was good, but I'd have preferred if the camerlengo stayed good. I really liked him! And even now, I don't know whether or not to blame him at all, after what he did!

Thanks very much for your advice on what I should use for Legolas, and the sites are really good as well. I used what I thought was best to use.

WildBlackWolf and Viva: I love kiwi! Sorry, don't know where that came from.

Hm. I can sympathize. I luckily had a nice fifth grade teacher, but my seventh grade class teacher (who haunted us from then until the 10th, when I left my old school) made me cry at least twice a year by her yelling, even this year! She really was terrible. Am I glad to be rid of geography!

Though I do not wear shorts (not comfortable), I know what you mean about matching clothes. In my class, there were a couple of best friends who used to do exactly the same thing.

I also had a 'mind-reading' friend at one point. Ridiculous, she was a complete humbug. She, myself, and another girl were music students together for two years. After our 9th finals when my teacher was going to announce our individual marks, both my friends wanted theirs told in their ears. I think this is really dumb, because hiding marks makes a bigger deal of bad marks than if one was just honest. I NEVER hide my mark, I swear.

Anyway, both the girls went to the teacher, and had their marks whispered to them, and then because I didn't want to get up (I was drawing something), I told the teacher to yell it out for the whole world to hear.

She mumbled, and my 'mind-reading' friend misheard. I'd got 76, and was quite pleased with myself, and then she says, "72! I KNEW you'd get 72!"

I corrected her, and she said, "I meant to say 76! I know these things!"

Can you believe it? Anyway, there was lot of blood lost between us. We hated each other, but on account of her being a humbug, we had to pretend (right till 10th, by which time I was quite fed up) that we were the best of friends. There are some nice things about leaving places after all!

Jenna? That's a nice name! How old is she?

"So you study us but we don't study you? That's pretty stupid."

It's not stupid. Seriously. From the 17th century till 1947 India was colonized by the Biritish. Their history IS our history. The Industrial revolution, the various Kings and Queens, Henry th Eighth and his 8 wives, all of it had consequence for us. Thus it wouldn't be surprising that we study the West, while they don't study us.

American history however, we have not done. Except for the World Wars, the UN, and the Human Rights charter.

I don't know about the language. I couldn't guess.

See you all!


	24. Trust and Friendship

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 24: Friendship and Trust

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

Celin saw at one glance that the letter was written in Elvish, and he was not at all surprised. Elvish had always been the language the two friends communicated in, even when they were teaching.

_Dear Estel,_ the letter began,

_Please, do not come running to seek me after you read this line, because by that time I will already be dead._

Celin gasped in surprise and shock and looked quickly at Legolas's face, as if to assure himself that the Elf was alive.

_I've been poisoned by an orc blade, which I'm at present keeping secret from everyone, and will probably die soon. When I get Celin to safety, if I am not already dead, I will take my own life. It has been a long one, and I have no regrets but that I couldn't make peace with the children._

_Our friendship has meant a great deal to me, and I cherish it with all my heart. I treasure every minute of our time together, and am sorrier than you will ever know that I must part with you this way. If there was any other way, I swear on my mother's grave I would take it._

_But you must understand, Estel. You HAVE to understand. This is not your fault, so for Valar's sake do not assume that. I know you will blame this on yourself, but you have no reason to. The only reason I am doing this is to save you, and my father, and myself a considerable amount of tears and heartbreak._

_I let a girl get hurt, and my father promised me that the consequences would be dire. Even if Ivana survives, my punishment will be severe. My father will have to give me a life-long prison sentence, or behead me, or give me a life-long exile._

_He will do so, because he is an honorable King, but it will break him. If I force him to behead me, he will surely die of heartbreak. Then Mirkwood will have no King, and my people will come to ruin._

_Tell him only that I died by the hand of orcs. I would not wish him to know that I killed myself for his sake. I would not want anyone to know, even you, and if I find myself dying from the orc poison, I will burn this letter before it can reach your or anyone else's eyes._

_It is better this way. Would you be able to bear it if I was killed before your very eyes? Would you not do all you could to stop it- and ruined all your relations with Mirkwood in the bargain? I cannot allow that Aragorn, for I have strived with those children for hours on end, and I have come to love them as I would love my own flesh and blood if I had any._

_This army MUST succeed, and I know that under your care it will. Train them well, and improve your relations with Mirkwood. Make for both Kingdoms the strongest army the world has ever seen and I will look on from above with pride at their brilliance, and yours. For yours will be a hard task, getting sense into the heads of those truly ridiculous teenagers._

_Just an hour ago, Celin spoke to me about trust. He said that if I just gave him and all the other children a second chance when they made mistakes, then my relationship with them would be miles better than it is now. _

_I realize that he is right. And since he cannot fight in the army I wish to give him an honor which he well deserves. He would make such a good warrior if he could. I would like him to become a trainer, and have included another bit of paper which will take care of this. _

_I trust him implicitly, for I wish him to train the very children who mean so much to me. I even trust him with their welfare; yet I have faith in him. If it suits him, then perhaps he will start a school for teaching young children the arts of warfare and self-defense._

_I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me for hurting you by doing this. If we should ever meet again, I will make it up to you._

_Your friend forever,_

_Legolas._

Celin raised his head, and stared at Elano mutely, fighting tears. _I hope I am worthy of his trust._

"There's more," Elano said heavily, handing him another parchment. Celin saw that it was much shorter than the other letter.

_I, Legolas son of Thranduil, of the royal house of Mirkwood, do on my deathbed make my last wish, which by the law of Mirkwood must be fulfilled. I ask for Celin, son of Tathar, to be trained in warfare by His Majesty the King of Mirkwood, and when the training is complete, to be established with King Elessar as the trainer for the Gondor-Mirkwood army._

Legolas was stunned. Then, "He wants the _King_ to train me?"

Elano squeezed Celin's shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

"But I…" Celin was stunned. He could not believe that his outburst had caused these thoughts in Legolas's head. Nor could he believe that the King would ever waste his time with an insignificant teenager who was indirectly the cause of his son's death.

"This can't be allowed," he said faintly, his mind reeling.

"Actually, it has to be," Elano said quietly, "It's the law of Mirkwood that a dying Elf should always get his or her last wish, unless it threatens the integrity of the Kingdom."

"But…why?"

"Because Elves aren't supposed to die, and for those rare few who do, it is the least anyone can do to see that their last wishes are granted."

"How do you know this?" Celin asked.

"My father died in my arms, and I received a letter from the King asking what his last wish was," Elano replied in the same quiet tone, "But he never had time to make the wish."

"I'm…sorry." Celin was beginning to wonder how many more surprises he was going to get today. He had never heard this before, and nor had anyone else, with the exception of Ivana and Legolas himself, though Celin did not know it. He felt a wave of sadness well up on behalf of his friend.

Elano shook his head and changed the subject, "I think we need to talk to the others about this."

"You think so?" Celin was doubtful.

"They have as much right to know it as we do. I think it will do them good to know the sacrifice he was willing to make…and his regard for us."

"Elano, I think Legolas has already proven himself a million times."

"Yes, but still, this would dispel all lingering doubts that anyone might have."

Celin gazed at Elano uncertainly for a moment, and then said slightly doubtfully, "Alright. I'll call them."

He bounded down the tree, and began to call the other children in stage whispers.

…

"What is this about?" Elgalad asked, voicing everyone's question.

"I think Celin should tell," Elano said, nodding towards the boy as he spoke, "As this concerns him most."

"Well…" Celin looked around at the class, unaccountably nervous all of a sudden, "Sir wrote a letter for King Elessar, and er…we read it…and…"

"You _read_ a letter written by the Prince of Mirkwood?" the class was looking at him in amazement at his daring.

"Actually, he gave me the letter to give to Lord Aragorn, and Lord Aragorn dropped it. I picked it up, and it fell from my pocket, and Elano read it without realizing whose it was."

"We think it is best that you know its contents too," Elano said, looking around at everyone.

"Why?" asked Linnor from above, where she was sitting with Ivana, Legolas and the sleeping Aragorn.

"Because it's….well…it sort of concerns us."

"_Us_!" They were baffled. Why would Legolas write a letter about _them_?

"Just let me read it, okay?" Celin said, "I'll take responsibility if sir finds out."

Uncertain murmuring filled the air, but finally it was decided that the letter should be read. They were all very curious about what Legolas had to say that concerned them.

When Celin had jumped down the tree to call his classmates, he had accidentally knocked down a wooden pitcher of water near Legolas's head. Elano hadn't noticed it because it fell on Legolas's cloak and made no sound at all, but some of the water fell on the Elf's face, jerking him to consciousness.

At first, Legolas was only aware of his own hurting body, but then his mind started to clear and he was able to hear the voices of his beloved students. He recognized Celin's voice, speaking about a letter…which was followed by a babble of protests and interruptions.

Then suddenly there was a silence, which made Legolas even more alert. Then he heard Celin's voice, loud and clear as if the Elfling was standing right next to him, reading out- was that really _his_ letter!

…

When Celin had finished, a stunned silence filled the air. Then a babble of anxious voice broke out. Everyone was expressing, in their several ways, their amazement at the lengths Legolas was willing to go to just do his duty.

"He was going to kill himself!"

"And he said he loves us!"

"Oh, how I wish I had never said anything bad about him."

"We can't let him be punished; none of this is his fault!"

This last was from Linnor, who felt very strongly about this. It was a thought that had not yet occurred to the others, but when it did, it infused them with determinations.

"No! We can't let him be punished!"

"We'll petition the King!"

"We'll have a demonstration!"

"And we won't let Elano be punished either!" Celin's voice carried above the din, for he did not want his worthy friend to be left out of this fervor.

"NO! WE WON'T!"

"Shut up, you nitwits!" Elano hissed, "You'll wake sir! And anyway, there's no way we can do any of that. The law is the law, and you are all mere children in the eyes of the King. And I too am fairly young by Elven standards. Nothing any of us say will make the least difference."

"What if we kept this a secret?" Ananya said, thoughtfully, "What if we all gave our word that this thing about Ivana getting hurt would never be found out?"

"Do you really think Ivana herself would allow this kept secret!" Elano asked, incredulous, "She hates sir, you know that! She'll do anything to get even with him."

"Actually that's not true," Elano said, frowning, "I thought the same thing, but she said that she doesn't dislike sir, but she doesn't respect him either. But I still don't see how we could fail to mention-"

"We'll nail it into her!"

"What does she mean- doesn't respect sir!"

"We'll _make_ her keep it secret!"

"We won't even have to make her keep it secret! She will, for Elano's sake!" Celin said. "She and Elano are the best of friends- she would never reveal Elano being an adult to anyone, as she would have to if she exposed herself!"

"You're right! Elano saved her life, she'd never betray him!"

"So we _can_ keep it secret, then!"

"Now all we have to do is convince sir," Elano said, "And that will be hard, especially if he still blames himself for this. Then he may think he deserves a punishment."

"Whatever happens, we can't allow him to kill himself. He-

"That won't be necessary," Legolas said, finding his voice at last. He had been so overcome by what the children and said, and touched by how they had resolved to lie to the King for his sake, that he hadn't been able to speak until this point. He smiled sheepishly at the loud, horrified gasps that his words produced.

"Sir, I can explain-" Celin began, remembering that he had said he would take responsibility, but Legolas cut him off.

"No Celin. That letter was a _mistake_, though I meant every word of it which concerned you. The choice of ending my own life is no longer in my hands, so that is not a cause for concern for anyone except myself for the time being. My punishment lies in the hands of the King, and that you cannot right."

"But sir-"

"You will _not_ lie to the King," Legolas said, very gently but very firmly, "You will _not_. It is too much for me to lay on you. Do not worry about my punishment; I will work something out with my father." The words were empty and everyone knew it, but there was nothing they could do. Legolas was right; they realized they could not lie to the King.

"But I would like you to do something for me," their teacher said after a pause, looking at them imploringly, "Please make sure that letter never reaches Aragorn. It will hurt him more than bears thinking about, and without. Make sure he never knows the rest of its contents and then you would have truly repaid my trust. Can you do this for me?"

There was a silence. Then, "Yes, of course sir. Of _course_ we will."

"Thank you." Legolas was too tired to feel worried. He really did trust them with the letter. He knew that they would never betray him, not when they had been willing to lie to the King for his sake.

He listen to their talk for sometime, which involved descriptive death threats for anyone who gave the secret away, but eventually his exhaustion overcame him and his eyes closed. It was the first peaceful sleep he had had in a long, long time.

…

TBC…

Hey people! After the last few chapter endings, I'm sure you find that quite tame, but don't forget there's more stuff to come! College is starting for me today (don't know whether to dance with joy or cry) and therefore I thought it only fair to spare you a cliffie.

I have to go now, but here's something I've been wondering about. Please tell me who exactly Erestor, Glorfindel and Lindir are? As in, what are they famous for?

Review replies:

FallenTruth: So what did you think of the letter? Too dramatic? I hope not! Thanks for reviewing!

Lindahoyland: I'll cross my fingers with you, LOL. There seem to be too many of those idiots on this site. I should have guessed your order. It's pretty obvious, and most would share your opinion.

I still think it's a very weird coincidence that we both have letters to reveal on our next update. Hopefully Faramir's won't be a suicide note too, though knowing him (and you), that's probably what it will be. Thanks a million for reviewing!

WildBlackWolf and Viva: (goggles) You realize you just gave me four reviews for the same chapter? Organize your thoughts girl!

By "doing Buddha" I mean studying Buddha and his beliefs. You know, you do Shakespeare in English…that's what I meant. I don't particularly like Indian history (cough, cough, shame on me). In fact last year the only stuff I liked studying were the World Wars and the UN. The non-Indian stuff.

Mum says it's to do with the fact that the Indian historians were all boring old men basing their writings from the POV of the British, and the Western world wrote their history better. Or something like that. No clue what the hell I'm saying.

Jenna sounds like a cutie-pie. If she's a pound doggie, how come you know her breed? My doggie is going to turn six in Novemeber (sniffle). Right now he's going through his mid-life crisis. I'm joking, by the way. It's just that he's now midway through his life. Get it?

As for the honey, I'll have to refer you to Lindahoyland for that. I'm clueless when it comes to this stuff, and any healing knowledge I have is thanks to her stories.

I'm so sorry but I haven't the time to check that song up. College, remember? Oh, and, I nearly forgot, but Linnor HASN'T seen spiders before. None of them have ever been away from Mirkwood until I came along and disrupted their lives. So don't be mean to poor ol' Linnor.


	25. More Healing

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 25: More Healing

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

When Aragorn awoke that night, he found Legolas as he had left him; sleeping. Though this was not necessarily a good sign, the Man was very relieved. He put his hand on the Elf's forehead and found that he was still running a temperature, but it was decidedly less than it had been that morning.

Though he had slept for hours, he still felt drained and exhausted. He had given much of his strength to Legolas, and though sleep had energized him, he still felt very weak. He put his hands on his friend's forehead and shut his eyes, probing his mind to find out its inner state.

He had expected to find only darkness, but to his amazement there was a faint flicker of light. He opened his eyes, and gazed at his friend, heartened, but puzzled. Legolas's despair had driven him to the point of killing himself. How was it possible that there was any hope at all in his mind? How was it possible that there was a will to live?

He was nevertheless very pleased by the discovery, because Legolas would have been impossible to cure if he did not want to be. As it was, the Elf was not yet out of danger and Aragorn was determined to watch him like a hawk until he was quite certain that he would be alright.

He undid the dressing on Legolas's arm, and found ugly yellow pus coming out of the cut. Though the sight was not pleasant, Aragorn was pleased because it meant that Legolas's body was at least putting up a fight.

He wiped the pus up, applied juice of jewelweed, and bound the wound with fresh cloth. He also made Legolas drink more athelas-water, and then turned him on his stomach to look at his back. The lashes were looking slightly better, but were still bleeding, which worried Aragorn considerably. This _had_ to stop soon, or the Elf would surely bleed to death.

Aragorn considered whether to risk giving any more of his strength to heal Legolas, and reluctantly decided against it. In spite of the Elf needing it desperately, he did not want to kill himself. He still felt sapped from the last time. But then he remembered something that he had forgotten about, and sighed in relief. He rummaged among his emergency healing supplies, and found what he was looking for; a small vial of clear liquid; miruvor from Rivendell which would help sustain him.

He felt strength rush into his veins instantly and without more ado, he placed his hands over Legolas's back, and began to transfer the newfound strength to his friend. When he felt that he had given as much as he could without endangering himself, he stopped reluctantly, instantly feeling weak and shaky. To his intense relief, the wounds on Legolas's back had ceased to bleed.

Aragorn bandaged Legolas's back again, and then took out his pipe and started to smoke. Instantly, he started to feel more relaxed.

_A thousand blessings on the ones who grew this exquisite pipeweed!_ He thought, smiling contentedly.

His happiness, however, was short lived. He was drawn to Ivana's side by a low groan of pain.

He moved forward at once, "Are you alright, Ivana?"

Her eyes flew open, "I…what?"

"Are you alright, Ivana?" he said, immediately starting to check the wound on her stomach.

"Yes," she said firmly, staying his hands with her own.

Aragorn wondered if she was just being stubborn, "I would still like to see your wound, though."

"There's no need, but alright, if you think it necessary."

"I do," Aragorn said firmly, wondering whether his acquaintance with Legolas was making him doubt anyone who said they were 'alright'. He undid the bandage on her stomach, and sighed with relief as he saw that it was healing as it should be.

He bandaged it with fresh cloth, and nodded at Ivana to indicate that all was well. A silence fell between them for some moments, but then suddenly her eyes widened in shock, as though she had only just remembered something.

"Where is Legolas!" she exclaimed, attempting to sit up.

Aragorn pushed her gently but firmly back onto her bedroll and said, "He is right there, Ivana. He is resting. He is recovering."

She glanced at where he was pointing, and appeared to relax a little. "How is he?"

"Still too weak for you to talk to him about anything serious," he said pointedly.

"That's not why I asked!" she exclaimed indignantly, "Legolas should get the time he needs to recover. Then perhaps I will talk to him."

"He is many years your senior in both skill and age, I think you would do well to call him by a form of respect, don't you?" Aragorn said, with just a hint of a reprimand.

For some inexplicable reason, she began to laugh when he said this.

"What on earth do you find funny!" Aragorn asked, amazed.

"Form of respect," she said, still chortling, "Oh if you only knew, my Lord, the pains he has gone through just to make me call him 'sir'!"

Aragorn was thoroughly bewildered, but he did not press further, not wanting to slow her recovery by making her talk too much. Instead he called down to Elano and told him that Ivana was awake, and he had better get some food and drink ready.

He came up so fast that he nearly knocked Aragorn over.

"You're awake!" he said unnecessarily.

"Yes, I figured," Ivana said, smiling slightly.

"How are you feeling?" Elano asked anxiously.

"Hungry and thirsty," Ivana replied, and Elano blushed because he had forgotten to bring food up in the joy of seeing Ivana awake.

Rushing down the tree as fast as he had come up, he left a slightly amused Aragorn smiling after him.

"You really had him worried, you know," he told Ivana matter-of-factly, "Not to mention, he drove himself nearly mad with guilt after using the potion on you."

Ivana stiffened at this, "I had to speak to Legolas," she said defensively.

"You have to speak to sir," he corrected her, "And why you have to speak with him _after_ both of you nearly got yourselves killed, as opposed to before…"

"Was he really that bad?" Ivana asked. There was a strange tone in her voice that made Aragorn look up in surprise.

"Yes he was," he said, trying to read her face, which was, as always, quite impassive. "He was poisoned, and he didn't tell anyone that he was. By the time I sought him out, he was practically on his deathbed." _Because he was about to kill himself_, he added silently, though he was never going to tell _her _that

Ivana just stared past him into nothingness, "I was right then," she said almost to herself, "He is more than ready."

"What-?" Aragorn began, confused, but at that moment Elano came bounding up the tree again with a bowl of meat stew in one hand.

Ivana's eyes widened, "You brought _meat_-?"

"_You_ eat it, don't you?" Elano asked rhetorically, with a slightly pained smile.

Ivana didn't say anything, but she gave him a look full of gratitude when he gave her the food. She had been expecting fruit and cheese, which she was in no mood for, but he had brought what she had actually wanted, no matter how much it had pained him to do so.

Aragorn, of course, didn't understand a word of this; he did not know that Elano did not eat meat. But he was willing to let it pass as he watched with a smile as the two friends talked quietly for the next hour, long after the stew was finished.

Legolas stirred on the floor. Aragorn was at his side instantly, instinctively feeling him for fever. It was still there, but it was much, much less than before. The second bout of Aragorn's healing had apparently done Legolas more good as the first, because a few minutes later, Legolas's eyes flickered open.

Aragorn let out a sigh of relief, "How are you feeling, Legolas?"

"I…my back hurts," Legolas said, grimacing as he tried to change his position to a more comfortable one.

"Well it _would_, you know, considering…" he broke off, smiling fondly at Legolas.

Legolas smiled back, and they spent the next few moments in comfortable silence, while the sounds of Ivana and Elano's conversation drifted over their heads. Both of them were too busy talking to have noticed that Legolas was awake, and Elano would not have been _so _relieved about it in any case, because Legolas had already regained consciousness once when the Man was asleep.

Then Legolas asked, "How is Ivana?"

"She is well," Aragorn said, "She wishes to talk to you."

"Yes, you said so before. I wonder what about?"

Aragorn merely shrugged; then asked, "How are you feeling now, do you still feel the effects of poison?"

"I…no…" Legolas sounded surprised by his own answer, "No, I don't feel the effects of poison at all. How can that be?"

Aragorn was silent for a time. "When I looked into your mind a few moments ago, I found a faint light in the darkness. Yet, hours before that you were on the point of killing yourself. What happened to change you, Legolas?"

Legolas shook his head, "I cannot answer that right now. But perhaps some day when we may look back on this day without grief, I will tell you…"

He fell silent and stared into the distance, obviously deep in thought. Aragorn glanced at him fleetingly, and then rose to get some food and water ready for him. While he was gone, Legolas lay back, and tried to make sense of his situation.

It would have made sense for him to die, he reminded himself. That is what he had wanted, what he still wanted, so why had he allowed himself to be healed? Why, when he knew he would be forcing his father into a horrible position if he lived?

Then he realized, and he could have kicked himself for not seeing it earlier. He had promised the children that he would not kill himself, and he _always_ kept his word. Resisting Aragorn's healing would have been tantamount to killing himself. So obviously, if he had to keep his word, he had to accept the healing.

He groaned inwardly, wishing that he had absolutely no qualms about breaking his word, so that he may just do what was best for the situation. But he also realized that should he kill himself after everything Aragorn had gone through to save him, it would hurt the Man more than bore thinking about. Not to mention, he would hurt the children, which was the last thing he wanted to do. He sighed in defeat, and when Aragorn brought him food and water, he consumed it without protest.

By this time, of course, Elano and Ivana had both realized that Legolas was conscious. Elano had nodded to his teacher and smiled, Ivana had scrutinized him with an unblinking and disconcerting gaze. Then she had bent her head forward and was now talking to Elano, throwing Legolas frequent glances as she spoke.

Finally Elano nodded in agreement, and then went up to Aragorn and whispered something to him. Aragorn whispered back, shaking his head and frowning but Elano whispered back again, this time more vehemently. Frowning, Aragorn also threw Legolas a look, and then climbed down the tree without saying anything further. Elano followed almost immediately, leaving Ivana and Legolas alone together.

After a moment's silence Ivana cleared her throat.

Legolas glanced at her, "You wished to speak with me?"

"I did, for there is something you must know."

Legolas felt a twinge of annoyance at the fact that she still refused to call him sir, but he suppressed it; now was not the time. In fact he thought he knew what Ivana wanted to tell him. "You want to tell me that you are an adult like Elano, don't you?" he asked.

Ivana looked surprised, "Well yes, that is one part of what I had to tell you, but there is much more to it than that. That is the easy part."

Legolas was surprised, he had been prepared for some long and drawn out excuse for her now obvious lie, but she apparently had something different to tell him.

"How old are you, exactly?" he asked, more out of curiosity than to serve any great purpose.

A ghost of a smile flickered across her face, "Three thousand and forty nine years old."

Legolas gasped, "You're older than me, then!"

"Why do you think I always hated to call you sir?"

"There's surely more to it than you being older?" Legolas was incredulous. Among Elves, age mattered so little among adults, that the old could show respect to the young without feeling awkward.

"Well yes there is, actually," Ivana said hesitantly, not knowing quite where to start.

"Then why don't you _tell_ me?"

"I…"

"Come on, Ivana. Please tell me. You don't even have to call me sir," he added with a hint of a smile.

Ivana looked uncertain for a moment, and then finally her face set. She opened her mouth and began to speak.

…

TBC…

Yes, yes, I know, lovely cliffie. (hides behind Aragorn as reviewers start chucking rotting vegetables at her).

Aragorn: Hey!

Me: You've got tomato juice in your hair.

Aragorn: Where? WHERE?

Me: Shut up you narcissistic git, I'm using you as a shield.

Aragorn: nanny-nanny-poo-poo.

Me: I beg your pardon?

Aragorn: I said nanny-nanny-poo-poo.

Me: Are you alright.?

Legolas: HE'S POISONED- WITH TOMATO JUICE!

Me: Argh! Is this what you call food poisoning?

Enough of that, I know I'm late updating and I hope you'll forgive me, but I fell sick. Plus HP 6 came out last weekend and it ROCKED! Except for the person who died…and the person who killed him…(weeps).

Before I forget, Aragorn was missing in the last chapter because he was asleep after giving Legolas all his strength. This chapter, as you'll can see quite well, he is back.

Okay, then review replies:

Lindahoyland: Aragorn is your favorite character? For some reason I always thought it was Faramir…but for me, Legolas is my favorite, though he is half the time tying with Aragorn in this matter, they both rock so much…

As for despair, you should be glad to find that it has cleared slightly. Next chapter though is the big surprise. I'm sure you're not surprised to find Ivana's an adult too, LOL. I didn't take any pains to hide it. Thank you for reviewing, and see you later!

FallenTruth: I already answered the question, but I really should have made it clearer last chapter. Silly me. Glad you thought it was not too dramatic, it was the hardest thing on earth to write. I always have trouble with suicide notes, incidentally this is my second one. The other one was from Legolas AGAIN in Despair and Hope, my first fic. Thanks for reviewing!

Hershey.xoxo.Kisses: Glad you like it! I really don't know what to reply, considering the fact that we've been mailing each other and chatting and stuff. Better update your story soon, though after reading HP 6, I don't know if it's too realistic anymore…Oh well, it's a fic, fics aren't generally too realistic, LOL. But I got to go now, sorry. Ta!

DarkStarofMirkwood: I like your penname, and thanks a million for reviewing. Hope you will this time too.

WildBlackWolf and Viva: You're quite right about history being biased, because I have no clue what you just said. Portugese? What war are you referring to? How come we never studied it?

I don't know the difference between a silver maple tree and a beech because I've never seen them. I can however tell you something about snakes and panthers and leopards, because they live at my old school. It was a huge forest of 130 acres with a few buildings thrown it, so we always had to be very careful of cobras (which could be found in the school) cows, which are a common sight everywhere in India, and don't really harm anyone coz their tame, panthers, which regularly ate people according to rumors started from my brother's calss, which is not true at all and scorpions, who popped out of nowhere on a regular basis.

And no, I've never heard that saying, but I've seen tones of snakes, turtles, and other wildlife. I'm still no good at wildlife, though there IS a banyan tree at school which I know from all others. It's beautiful.

I listen to music from Indian movies, so that's probably weirder than the stuff you listen to, at least by yours standards. As for the mallorn tree, I always knew it was beautiful, but I never imagined it to be like anything. I can't agree with you though as I don't know what a beech looks like, LOL.

Okay I have to go now, sorry. Lunch you see awaits me. LOL.

Kabuki733701: Though very grateful for your opinion, I have to disagree with you, I thought that the kids would have to change that fast, Legolas saved their lives and took a proper beating because of it, and was even ready to kill himself! Plus, he did say he loved them…thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you liked the letter. Please criticize me all you want though, jus' coz I disagreed with you doesn't mean I hate your opinions, LOL.


	26. Ivana's Secret

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 26: Ivana's Secret

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

"You may not know this, Legolas, but the King was married twice," Ivana began, fully prepared to be interrupted, as she of course was.

"He _what!_" Legolas was flabbergasted. He had never heard of this before.

"Yes…you see, many years ago, when I was an Elfling of five summers; my parents were captured and killed by orcs. We were traveling from Rivendell to Mirkwood-"

"What does this have to do with my father being married twice?" Legolas asked. He was still preoccupied with this bit of information to pay much attention to the rest of the story.

"I'm getting to that, just be a little patient, for Valar's sake! You never did possess that virtue, even as a child." She gave him a half smile, but he was once again far too amazed to let this sentence pass.

"_What?_" You knew me as a child!" he said, his voice cracking slightly on the words.

Ivana looked as if she might like to kick herself. She swore under her breath in a manner not at all becoming a lady, and then asked the shell-shocked Legolas to _please_ let her tell the story properly at her _own_ pace without interrupting her, or she would only confuse him by giving away bits and pieces.

Legolas nodded numbly and motioned for her to continue, wondering if _anything_ could surprise him now.

Ivana took a deep breath and then continued. "As I was saying, my parents were killed by orcs on our way to Mirkwood. I will never know how, but _somehow_ I escaped from the orcs and walked two days to the Mirkwood gate. I don' know how I even knew the way- I think I found the place by accident, or with the trees' help.

"When I arrived there, I was hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and weeping. The guards took me in to their cottage, fed me, and took me to the King's palace. I had no family, as the King discovered; I was the only one left after my parents died. We had been planning to permanently migrate to Mirkwood when this happened.

"Under the circumstances, the King tried in vain to find me a home, but was finally forced to take me in. He was only just into kingship, and did not appreciate this _new_ burden to his duties, but after a number of tantrums from my part, and a handful of scolding from him; we grew closer than you could ever imagine." Ivana's eyes were distant as she remembered her childhood.

Legolas gazed blankly at her. The words pounded in his head horribly. _How could any of this be true?_ He wondered. But Ivana was not lying; her eyes said as much. He motioned for her to continue, which she did after another moment's reminiscence.

"Your father, at the time, was married to the She-Elf Gailrin of Lorien. He was very much in love with her. You may have noticed that he does not particularly stand up for the rights of women," Ivana gave a slightly tight-lipped smile as she said this. Evidently she was not pleased about the fact.

Legolas agreed with this view whole-heartedly, though wondering what relevance it had to her story. He had always thought that his father did not give women the credit the deserved. He would never forget how he had argued with his father just to allow the girls to come for the hunting trip a month ago.

"Yes, I've noticed it," he said noncommittally.

"Well, it is only an act to please the people," Ivana replied, shaking her head, "According to Mirkwood's laws, the person that inherits the throne must be descended from the King directly, and according to its people, it must not under any circumstances be a woman. The King's wife was barren, which they found out later, and they therefore had no means of securing an heir. When I came to them, Gailrin took me into her home with open arms. She had always wanted a child, and I was hers before a month passed. The King accepted me only because she loved me so much.

"But he too came to love me as his own daughter in time. Between us, we built up a beautiful family of the kind you find in fairytales. But of course, it was not meant to be. " She paused, a bitter look coming over her face, and became lost in thought.

Legolas waited impatiently for her to continue, which she did in a moment.

"Well. The first thousand years of my life passed happily enough, but then my fa- the King made a public announcement stating that I was to be his heir."

Legolas gasped in amazement. He did not know what surprised him more; the fact that Ivana had almost called Thranduil 'father', or the fact that _Thranduil_, who abided by Mirkwood's protocol so staunchly, had actually declared a _woman_ to be his heir.

Suddenly he realized how his gasp must have sounded to Ivana, as though he too shared Mirkwood's view that a woman could never take the throne. He flushed, and hastened to explain himself; but stuttered and stammered so much that Ivana cut him off and told him she had known exactly why he had gasped, thank you very much. He gave her a sheepish look and told her to continue.

"As you can imagine, the people went up in smoke when they heard this. Even the women protested. This was _completely_ unprecedented! For one thing, I was not the heir by blood, and for another, I was a mere woman." She glared at Legolas as though this was _his_ fault and then resumed her story. "The next century was a nightmare for my family, because I could not even step out of the palace without insulting whispers following me. My mother was shunned for being barren, and my father was cursed for his lack of judgment."

"But he remained adamant, and after a century of cursing and mocking and insulting, the people grew tired of singing the same song over and over again, and reconciled themselves grudgingly to the thought of a woman inheriting the throne.

"But suddenly, when we least expected it, the unthinkable happened. My mother was killed by a snake while she was walking in the forest." Her voice shook on the words, but she continued bravely in a moment, and when she did her tone conveyed no emotion. "My father and I were shattered. But we helped each other in our sorrow, and our joint bereavement brought us much, much closer than we had ever been before. Mirkwood contained itself for awhile as we grieved, but soon it became apparent that they were overjoyed. The-"

"What?" Legolas interrupted, staring at her in disbelief, "What do you mean, Mirkwood was overjoyed!"

Ivana gave him another tight lipped smile, "Well it freed the King from his marriage, did it not? He could marry again; have a male child if luck was on his side. Even if a male was not born, at least the heir would be descended directly from the King."

Legolas was appalled. He had never seen this side of Mirkwood before, and he hated what he was hearing. He had never realized that his people could be so prejudiced, and when he did it angered him greatly.

_When I am King_, he thought, _I will declare my firstborn to be the heir, whether girl or boy, and we shall just see what Mirkwood has to say about it if it is a girl_. Suddenly he realized what he was thinking, and he stopped himself hurriedly. He wasn't planning to marry, and without marriage, there would not be a 'firstborn' anyway.

Ivana glanced at him, and decided he had had enough time to recover himself. "As I was saying, the people started crying out for the King to marry, and he did so eventually, albeit reluctantly. The woman he married- your mother- was very beautiful and completely outshone Gailrin in this respect. Yet, father disliked her very much, and refused to even sleep in the same bed with her after his wedding night.

"She had a good heart, yet, after all, she could hardly overlook the way the King slighted her. I was very close to my father at the time, and she grew to hate me deeply because she thought I was only making matters worse. Soon she was with child, and when she went smiling to give my father the news, but he told her, very coldly, that I was to be heir regardless."

"But why would he-?" Legolas began, bewildered, but she cut him off.

"Why would he declare me as heir when that had been the very reason that people had pressured him into marrying again? I don't know, Legolas, but I can guess. I think the marriage made him miss _naneth_ more than ever. It had been her wish for me to be the heir, and he wanted to honor that.

"Of course, your mother Caladel was not at all happy about this. She thought _her_ child was the rightful heir to the throne. She grew angry, and bitter, and her hatred for me grew substantially; but she could not act on her feelings because of the King. So she bottled them up, and it weakened her greatly. That, in my opinion, is the _real_ reason for her dying in child birth. The baby, of course, was you."

"My mother died in childbirth because she hated you and bottled it up inside of her?" Legolas asked faintly. He had never heard of _any_ of this before. He had known his mother died while delivering him, but he had no idea _why_.

"Yes," Ivana replied, somewhat defensively, "But it wasn't my fault."

"No, no, I did not mean to accuse you; I know it is not our fault," Legolas said distractedly, his mind still whirling from everything he had just heard.

"Mirkwood waited impatiently for Thranduil to announce you as his next heir, but he did nothing of the sort. During the first three years of your life, I brought you up as though you were my own son. I was deeply attached to you, and you couldn't bear to be away from me for more than a couple of hours at a stretch. But then the Kingdom started to get rebellious. They asked my father flat out in a demonstration whether he meant his son to take the throne when he sailed.

"The King said _no_, he did not. The Kingdom was on the brink of civil strife, and my father was turning a blind eye to the fact. I _had_ to do something, or watch my father's rule fall to pieces. Driven by necessity, I did something cruel, but necessary. It was the only option for me at the time. I faked my own death and escaped beyond the borders of Mirkwood."

Legolas gasped, staring at her. "You did _what!_" he said, wondering if he had heard right.

"Wouldn't you have done the same?" she asked him quietly, "If you were in my place?"

"I…yes…" he said, trailing off as he realized that he would have. He glanced at her. _You are your father's daughter. No, you are my father's daughter._

"I always lived near Mirkwood so I could stay informed of what was happening inside it. Of course, the Kingdom was delighted by my death. Probably the only people who mourned my loss were you and my father, though you were too young to understand what had happened except that your darling 'Iva' had gone."

Legolas stirred at this. The name 'Iva' rung a bell in his memory that Ivana had not. He looked at her intently, eager to hear more.

"If _you_ missed _me_, _I_ missed you ten times more. I was completely _alone_, no one had any idea that I was alive, and the entire Kingdom was _rejoicing_ for my death. Can you wonder that I missed you?"

Legolas continued to gaze at her intently. He thought the question was rhetorical, so he did not answer. But to his surprise, Ivana asked the question again; evidently she _wanted_ an answer. Suddenly he realized that she was guilty about something. That she was trying to assure herself that what she had done was natural, and not wrong. He nodded his head, amazed that such a firm, strong-minded woman could doubt herself in this fashion.

"Two years passed, and my loneliness grew on me. I was waiting, _waiting_ for any opportunity that allowed me to see you and my father. And then, the opportunity came. The King announced that he needed a tutor for you, to teach you Elvish Literature, and the History of Middle-Earth, and Geography, and Arithmetic. So I-"

"Elchim!" Legolas said, staring at her in startled comprehension, "You were Elchim!"

"Yes, I was," she said, feeling happy that he had realized.

"You- your hair was black! And you always wore that veil…"

"I colored my hair black, and I told father that the veil was to cover a deformity which was the result of an orc attacking me and maiming me for life. I think it was that, more than the fact that I knew the subjects well that persuaded him to choose me. He must have felt sorry for me, and I must have reminded him of me. In a manner of speaking."

"This is so…strange," Legolas said, "You were…Elchim was always my favorite tutor. You taught me for- how long was it?"

"Ten years. You were fifteen when…" She trailed off again, at a loss for what to say.

"When what? Why did you leave? Father never told my why Elchim left, though I asked till my throat was sore. Why did you leave?" Legolas asked loudly. His voice rang out over the treetops, and the forest seemed to hold its breath. Ivana put her finger on her lips to quiet him. It would be _disastrous_ if anyone heard this.

"I left because I tripped over a root one day," she said in a continued whisper, "And the veil fell back from my face. Your father's back was turned to me at the time, so I escaped discovery, but it made me realize I was putting the Kingdhad discovered me then, he would have insisted on putting me on the throne instead of you. As it was, he had pronounced you the heir on the day when I faked my death, but I did not know what he would say if he found me alive. So I left."

"But I missed you more than ever as the years passed. I was waiting for another opportunity to come when I could see you again, and then you announced that you were going to train teenagers in warfare. It was a golden opportunity for me. You did not recognize me because you were too young to remember what I looked like, and the other children were not born in that time so they didn't know either. And you know what happened after that…"

Legolas certainly knew what happened after that, but he needed to clarify a few things. "So the reason you hate me so much…is because I more or less stole your father and kingdom from you?" he asked.

Ivana snorted at this, "Legolas, for one thing I do not hate you, but you can't exactly expect me to respect you and call you 'sir' without finding it highly amusing, when I was the one who held you when you learnt how to walk."

Legolas flushed at this, the image was slightly unsettling not to mention embarrassing.

She laughed at his expression. "Secondly, it was _my_ choice to leave the Kingdom, not yours. You did not _make_ me leave my family, so why would I hate you?"

"But I lost you your throne," Legolas answered.

"Do you really think I _cared_ about losing the throne?" Ivana asked, "As long as the Kingdom's future was in capable hands, I was perfectly happy if those hands were not necessarily mine."

Legolas realized that continuing to express guilt would be slightly ridiculous on his part; Ivana would only utter the same assurances again. "You're so good at archery because you had to live in the wild for all these years?" he asked to change the subject.

"No, I'm good at archery because I was trained by _ada_, just the same as you."

Legolas thought about this for a moment, once again stunned by the revelation, though a moment later he chided himself the thought. _Of course_ his father would have taught her! And no wonder she was as good as him.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly.

She gave him a questioning look.

"For treating you badly, I'm sorry," he explained hurriedly, "I was not always kind to you while teaching…I yelled at you a lot…"

"But you also praised me when I deserved it," she said in a low voice, "Though anyone could see that I got under your skin rather too often for the good of our 'relationship' at that point. The bad treatment was partly my fault too. I have realized that I have too much pride for my own good. If I hadn't found calling you 'sir' _half_ as amusing as I did, then things might be better between us."

"They might still be," Legolas said in a tentative tone, "If that is what you want?"

"I _want_ it, of course, but I do not think we _can_. It will not be easy to meet each other very often," she said earnestly, taking his hand. The gesture surprised him, because she had made a great show of hiding her emotions while telling her story. In fact, this was the first time she had shown him _any_ of her emotions so openly.

"But why?" he asked. "Why can't we meet every now and then?"

"Because if ada finds out that I am alive, then he will try to make me his heir again-"

"Which he should," Legolas finished for her, "And I think _you_ should be too."

"No, I should not," she answered, "Because that will plunge Mirkwood into _more_ darkness than already shrouds it. Remember, the orcs were heading towards Dol Guldur, which means that there could be more of them there. This will have to be looked into; ada will have to put more patrols on the south side of Mirkwood to prevent orcs coming. Goodness knows how many are there already. And after all this, if _ada_ declares me the heir, Mirkwood will not survive civil strife as well as the growing threats from orcs."

"Ada has a right to _know_, Ivana. He doesn't even know that you are _alive_. He-"

"He must never find out," Ivana said firmly.

"But he will," Legolas countered, "Even if I keep it secret, he will still find out, because the other children are not going to keep the fact that a female got hurt on this trip a secret. Well, they would if I asked them to, but that would be lying to the King, and I won't burden them with that."

Ivana went ashen, "Oh Valar," she groaned, "I forgot about that completely. _What _am I going to_ do?_ If the kingdom finds out that I'm alive, then they will force ada to throw me into prison for the rest of my life. Because I-"

"Deceived the royal family," Legolas finished in a despairing tone.

"It's even worse than that," Ivana said miserably, as another horrifying thought struck her. "I did not just deceive the royal family once, but thrice. I faked my own death. I disguised myself as your tutor. And I fooled you into believing that I was a minor. The Kingdom will never hear of letting me live after this. They will kill me."

"And that will kill ada," Legolas said quietly, despairingly. "Whatever are we going to _do_?"

…

Above them, Linnor sat frozen on a tree branch, unable to believe what she had just heard.

…

TBC…

Hello people! So now you know about Ivana. And yet, I managed to leave you on a cliffie. I rock, don't I? (covers ears as reviewers start hissing and booing) OKAY! So I don't rock.

First off, I'd like to say thank all my reviewers for getting me, for the first time in my life, past the hundred review mark. THANK YOU! You have no idea what this means to me. Well actually, some of you do, if you write yourselves. LOL.

Second, if any of you are interested, Ivana has gone through so many identity changes that it is seriouslyfunny that I even know who she is.First, believe it or not, she wasn't supposed to exist. When I did bring her to life, she was supposed to Legolas's half sister, AND she was supposed to die from the stomach wound after telling Legolaswho she was in a dramatic dying conversation. That version had Ivana as the rightful heir to the throne, but Thranduil had an affair outside his marriage, and Legolas was supposed to be illegitimate. Thranduil's wife forgave him, and then she and Ivana went and lived in the borders of Mirkwood to protect Thranduil's name. And she died, but I've forgotten how. It was a long time ago.

Then, I decided that that was just TOO dramatic, plus none of you wanted Ivana to die, so I decided to make Ivana Leoglas's nanny (as in nurse, not grandma). But that wasn't working either, so I came up with this. So now you know what a complex person Ivana is. (snorts).

Hope that didn't confuse you too much. If it has, Ivana is Legolas's adoptive sister, maybe his adoptive mother, his teacher, and possibly his friend. I just know that's left you'll completely befuddled.

Third, I got caught in a flood on Tuesday. It's been raining really heavily in my city these days. And the drains have gotten all clogged, and water level rose even on the main road. It rained 94 cm on Tuesday alone, which is a record breaker for any city in India.

I got caught in all this because I had to leave college when it was pouring. I luckily went with two friends, but one of them decided to take a short cut. We got stuck there and had to walk back to the main road in knee deep water. Then we took another auto, and then got stuck again. Waded through waist deep water at one point. Climbed onto a school bus, and moved two inches in ten minutes. Got freaked by the rising water, and decided to walk before it rose too much. Finally, I got to my friend's place three hours after I'd started, while the other guy walked it home coz it was ten minutes away. There was no power, but my friend's family was really kind to me and let me stay the night. The next morning, my dad drove some way,walked down the main road, picked me up, then we went back home by car.

My mum had a worse time. She spent the night in office (poor thing) and then it took her five hours to reach home. She walked most of it, and even waded through neck deep water! Freaky!.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. If you want to know more I'll tell you next update.Review replies:

WildBlackWolf and Viva: Thanks for explaining the war. As for the pairing you mentioned, I've read about it in the HP fandom, it's in 'Fallen' by cyropi, so I wasn't totally surprised. I think they make an okay couple. Do you realize that our conversations are growing shorter and shorter? Give me something to respond to, girl!

DarkStarofMirkwood: There's no need to be polite. My penname is actually my nickname at my old school. Long story. I know it sucks, so no need to pretend. I actually got the best of it. There's a girl in my class who's nickname is Wooly Mammoth. Thank you for reviewing.

Lindahoyland: Once again noAragorn this chapter. I miss him too, but I hope the revelation and the cliffie compensated for it. Thanks again for the e-card. It was very nice of you. Though I'm a little surprised that no one guessed that Ivana was an adult, I know that it seems obvious to me only coz I'm writing the story. Something I should have figured out a long time ago.Oh and you're right about the modern language. I'll try harder. 'I figured' was a stretch, but Frodo does say "I'm alright. I'm not hurt." in the first movie. Are you sure alright'snot Middle Earthean?

Eleniel of the Stars: You are my 100th reviewer! Yay! Thank you! Also, I never said Hindi movie songs were weird. I said they'd be weird by most of my reviewers' standards. I agree they're not all of it is good, but I love A.R. Rahman's music especially. If that has any meaning to you. By the way, where did you hear the music? You're not Indian are you?

Hershey.xoxo.kisses: Yes you were my 101th reviewer. And that's great coz the 101th dalmation was always the cutest. And I know that didn't make any sense, but seeing as how you seem to have a peice of my mind in yours, it shouldn't be difficult for you to figure it out. Sort of. I don't know what the hell I'm saying!

Black Shadow: Thanks for reviewing!


	27. A Hopeless Situation

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 27: A Hopeless Situation

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

Linnor was numb with surprise. She wondered briefly how _she_ could have heard this conversation; this political bombshell. She glanced down at Legolas and Ivana, and her heart clenched at the despairing expressions on their faces.

She had heard the conversation because she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep the past of few days because she had been too worried to rest. Exhausted, and not wanting to sleep in the tree house where there were constant interruptions, she'd climbed the tree above it and just gone to sleep on a secure branch.

She had been woken by voices below her, and she had heard enough to piece Ivana's story together. Her opinion of the girl- _no_, Elf- had changed dramatically as the story was told. She now saw her in a sympathetic light, and respected her for her courage and strength. She rocked herself back and forth on the branch, struggling with her feelings.

Now that she had this information, she knew that she could not stand back and allow Ivana to be executed; but neither did she know what she could do to prevent it. She was so lost in thought that she barely noticed Legolas stagger to his feet below her.

…

Legolas leaned against the willow tree, breathing hard. It had been harder to climb down it than he had expected, but he had felt that he _had_ to get away from Ivana. Her forgiving eyes were more than his guilty soul could bear. He shut his eyes tightly as tears of guilt threatened to fall down his cheeks.

"Legolas?" said a concerned voice from behind him.

His eyes flew open. "Hello, Aragorn." He wondered how he could possibly have forgotten about the irrepressible _adan_, who would undoubtedly ask him awkward questions.

Sure enough, "What are you doing down here?"

"I…" Legolas did not want to lie to his friend, yet he could not very well tell him anything when he was well aware that his students were listening with ears peeled in the trees above them.

"Are you well, Legolas?" Aragorn asked, his concern mounting, "Do you want to relieve yourself?"

"Do I- what?" Legolas said distractedly, trying to keep his emotions at bay.

"Do you want to-?" Aragorn started again, more concerned than ever, but by this time, Legolas had managed to register the question.

"No, no of course not!" the Elf said forcefully, raking his hand through his golden hair, and glancing at the tree house nervously.

"Then why are you down here?" Aragorn said worriedly, following his gaze and looking towards the tree house as well; "Are you in pain? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Legolas muttered, glancing at the tree house again. He had told Ivana that he had to relieve himself when she asked why he was climbing down, and now he had said loudly and clearly that he did not. He could have kicked himself for his stupidity.

"Legolas, are you in pain?" Aragorn said sharply. From the penetrating silence in the clearing, it was clear that all the children were listening for all they were worth, but Aragorn was not thinking about that.

"I- yes," Legolas said, and realized a moment too late what he had said. "I mean, no!"

"Where?" Aragorn said, walking up to Legolas, and putting his hands on his shoulders.

"I'm not hurt," Legolas said, though his anguish his eyes said otherwise. Aragorn stared at him for a long moment, and then comprehension filled his eyes.

"What did she tell you?" the Man asked in a whisper, using Common Tongue because he knew that none of the children could understand.

Legolas's eyes filled with tears, they spilled down his cheeks, and splashed on his shirt. Before Aragorn knew what was happening, he had dashed out of the clearing into the thick of the woods.

"Elano, take charge!" Aragorn yelled over his shoulder, and then plunged through the woods after his friends.

…

Legolas ran as long as he could, but finally the pain in his body drove him to his knees. He sat on the floor of the forest, breathing heavily, tears and sweat streaming down his face. Behind him, he heard Aragorn's footsteps as the Man came to a stop and fell to his knees beside him.

Sobs choked him, he could barely breathe. Aragorn held him close for sometime, waiting patiently for his weeping to quiet. It was the first time in their long friendship that Aragorn had seen Legolas this distraught, which was worrying because it meant that; whatever Ivana had told Legolas was _very _unlikely to be good news.

He was none too pleased when Legolas summarized the story for him. He had been right. It _certainly_ was not good news.

The children were quite beside themselves. Their loud talking reverberated around the clearing, so that if any orcs had been anyway within six leagues of them, they would have known their location in an instant.

"What on earth was that about?" someone who had been too far up to have heard anything exclaimed.

"He was crying, wasn't he?"

"_Sir _was crying!"

"That's what Aurel said."

"Well if Aurél said it, then that's an _excellent_ reason to believe it, I suppose," said the sarcastic voice of a skeptical classmate.

"That's not fair!" Aurél protested, but before she could get any further, Elano stepped forward, followed by Celin.

"She's right," he said, nodding at Aurél, "I saw him too."

"So did I," said Celin.

"_See?_" said Aurél triumphantly.

No one answered her. They were all too shocked.

"But…why would sir cry?" Pilinel said musingly.

"Oh, _no_ reason at all, he's _only_ going to be thrown into prison by his father when we get back to-"

"No, but why would he cry now, I mean if he was upset, wouldn't he have cried earlier?" Pilinel asked, waving the sarcasm aside.

"That's a good point, Nel," Celin said, as though he'd only just realized it. "Why _would _he cry now?"

"I think it's something Ivana said to him," Elano said tentatively, knowing how this pronouncement would be received.

"What would _Ivana_ say to him?" everyone exclaimed in the same voice.

Elano winced. He had _known_ that was coming. "Well, she er…when she was injured, she told me she wanted to tell him something, and to keep her alive until she could see him again."

"_She_ said that?" said a shocked voice.

"But she _hates_ sir!" Elgalad said incredulously, "What would-"

"She have to say to him, I have a very good idea what," Linnor finished, stepping forward from the back of the group. She had made her decision. If she knew it, they had a right to know it too.

"You _do?_"

"How?"

"Well…I overheard it," Linnor said, lowering her voice. She was suddenly aware that Ivana must have heard everything that everyone had been saying.

Hastily, she beckoned the class over to the other side of the clearing.

"We don't want her to hear," she said by way of explanation.

"She already knows, so what difference can it make?" said Elgalad.

The class groaned and started calling him names. Linnor rolled her eyes, and thought; typical Elgalad. If Legolas had heard this slight deviation from the topic, he would have been amused in spite of themselves. _Teenagers will always be teenagers_, he would have thought, _even if they are extremely 'mature' teenagers._

But in a moment, Linnor had their attention again. She opened her mouth uncertainly. She did not know how they would react to this; whether they would be outraged at the thought of a female heir, or whether they would feel sorry for Ivana like she did. But the truth had to be told, and she was the only person in a position to tell it. She took a deep breath and began to speak.

…

Ivana wrung her hands in despair. Though the children had gone to the far side of the clearing, her ears, sharpened more than usual by her years in the wild, could hear exactly what Linnor was saying. And more disturbingly, what she was saying was _exactly_ what she had told Legolas. Whom she was worried about, because it had never been like him to cry.

To top it off, _another _thing worrying her was how the children would take the news. Would they be outraged, as their parents would, if _they_ heard this tale? They hated her already; would they hate her more for what she was?

Her heart beat fast; she looked around for something to defend herself with should they attack her. But then she stopped as she caught for the first time the tone of Linnor's voice. _It was sympathetic._ Her heart soared, and for the first time hope filled her heart. She moved towards the edge of the tree house and listened closely to what was being said.

The children were listening to Linnor in complete silence. When she ceased speaking, the still stared at her without speaking, stunned. Ivana wondered apprehensively if this was a good sign.

Then someone spoke. Elgalad, by the sound of the voice. "That's…not fair. For Ivana, I mean, Mirkwood shouldn't have…"

"Yes," Celin agreed, "That really isn't…how on earth could anyone hold it against _her_? It wasn't even her fault."

"It was brave wasn't it?" a female voice, presumably one of the Azverlet twins, said, "To…fake her own death like that. Imagine if we were in her place…"

One by one, the children expressed their disgust and disillusionment with their homeland. They talked amongst themselves loudly, questioning Linnor, who soon looked quite harassed, and was continually reminding them to lower their voices. But as they debated the information she had given them, never once did they blame Ivana. Not a shred of hatred for her, not one speck of anything _but_ respect and pity for her.

Ivana was both amazed and touched. She had not expected this. For the first time it struck her the way Legolas had affected these students. By allowing boys _and_ girls to come together to learn warfare, by always treating them as equals, he had taught them something that their parents and elders never would have taught them. The boys considered the girls as their equals, their friends, and on occasion their rivals. The girls did not consider the boys as superiors. All thanks to the fact that Legolas had taught them in that way.

For the first time, she felt some _real_ respect for him, but she did not dwell on it for long. She was once again drawn to the conversation the children were having. The talk seemed to have turned to how to save Ivana and Legolas from their seemingly inevitable fates. She had to stifle a laugh as she heard someone explaining an elaborate and far-fetched scheme where the class of seventy-two would take over Mirkwood's 'evil' people, and make Ivana and Legolas _joint_ heirs to the throne. Some things would never change; she thought indulgently.

She squinted at the crowd and spotted Elano. The Elf was standing tight-lipped with his arms crossed. She frowned. _He_ wasn't going to blame her, was he? Of course not, he decided, chiding herself for even thinking it. Elano was the one person whom she had always known she could count on.

_So why is he just standing like that?_ She wondered. A moment later, Elano looked up and caught sight of her. He stiffened in surprise; then gave her a sad smile which showed her exactly what he was saying. He was feeling helpless that there was so little he could do. Now that the entire class knew about the situation, even the smallest hope of secrecy was gone.

Ivana resolved one thing then and there. When Legolas returned to the tree house, she would tell him to tell Thranduil the truth. Then maybe she could meet her father once before she died.

…

TBC…

Hey guys! Bad news. My darling college has decided that since we missed three weeks of Business Studies, and since we can't have lectures any other time, we have to have it on Saturdays. Plus catch up every evening of the day! So that means slower updates. Oh, not to mention, they also want us to have Saturday school for a month to make up for the flood days, so that's why I was so late updating.

But this story only has three or four more chapters left. Should be done as soon as I can get it done. What a completely ridiculous sentence. Don't worry though, I have a sequel planned out. Will elaborate after this fic is done, for obvious reasons.

Okay I have to go now. Review replies:

Deana: Oh hello! You ARE the most irregular reviewer. Three reviews in a row for you is a HUGE deal. Oh well. Tell me something, do you forget to review, or have you just not been reading this regularly? Oh, and thanks for the review. I appreciate it, and am glad you were surprised.

WildBlackWolf and Viva: As you can see, my college is about as stupid as my school. (curses all silly educational intstitutions)

OF COURSE I know what chai is! It's tea, you silly girl! Tea with a few Indian spices and a LOT of milk. Couldn't you tell from the taste? LOL.

As for saris, it is true that many people wear them to construction sites. I personally find them very uncomfortable and two revealing for comfort. My mum wears them to work. (hoots) she had to walk through the flood in it! I can't imagine it!

The flood situation has cleared up now, but Mumbai (which is the city I live in- also a place that people WOULD NOT come to for a little, what was it again? Mission trip? What's that, exactly? It's not missionaries is it?) Mumbai, as I was saying, is on the verge of an epidemic in cholera, lepto something and dengue and malaria, and typhoid and everything else that's evil. 43 people are already dead, and some in areas close to mine! We're all crossing our fingers here!

Though you were making a joke, cows DID die. I have no clue if they can swim. Cows and buffalos died. But in Mumbai, there aren't too many on the streets. There were a whole lot more in Bangalore, my old city!

Oh, you sleepwalk? I do too! But only on occasion….thanks for the review!

DarkStarofMirkwood: I agree with you on both counts. Thanks for reviewing. I'll finish your story when I get the time. Which won't be happening soon unfortuneately. See ya! Thanks for the review.

Lindahoyland: I can't believe it, I missed you out! I didn't write a review reply to you! Now I'm hoping you won't notice and I'll just do a little replacement trick. Meh. I'm too sleepy to be cohrent. Thanks so much for the review and the compliments. As for the went up in smoke thing, it's an expression my parents use a lot. It can't be wrong. Maybe it's just an Indian-English saying. But I know this- it's certainly isn't modern. See ya!

Hershey.xoxo.kisses: Your penname is exhausting to type. Can I just call you Hersheys, if you don't mind? Not to mention, I already know your name so….

I apparently read your review in a hurry, I seem to have missed the bit about Forward Motion. I'll read it when I get time, which, like I said, won't be soon. Don't like cliffies, do you? (hides) I'm awfully sorry dearie, but it can't be helped. Did I just call you dearie? I think there's something wrong with me…oh right, it's 11:30 in the night here. Again with the time zones, LOL. Anyway thanks for the reviews and good luck with the writer's block!

See you all, guys!

TBC…


	28. A Bittersweet Reunion

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 28: A Bittersweet Reunion

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

The palace guards stared at the Prince of Mirkwood in surprise.

"Sire, we were not expecting you for another two weeks!" said one.

"We had a run in with some orcs," Legolas said by way of an answer, "I thought it best to come home though none of us were injured save I." _And Ivana, but I'm not mentioning that till I've spoken to ada_, he added silently

"Are you well, sire?" the guard asked.

"Yes, I am, now. But would you please do a favor for me?"

"Anything that pleases my Lord," was the eager reply.

"Please have someone show these children, and of course the King of Gondor, to some rooms in the palace. They are weary, for we have traveled hard and far. They cannot be allowed to return home tonight. I will go and see my father now, for he must know of what has transpired."

"Of course, my Lord," the guard answered, and disappeared to find a maid.

"All of you wait here until he comes back, except for you two," he said, nodding to Ivana and Elano, "Follow me, please."

Aragorn grasped his shoulder as he passed, trying to lend him some strength and comfort. Legolas gave him a half smile, and continued on his way to the throne room.

Ivana kept her head down as she followed Legolas and Elano. Her mind was whirling with emotions. Everywhere she turned, she saw her childhood. There, in that courtyard, her father had given her her first bow. In that corridor, her mother had would read her Elven folklore; she had heard the tales. And as they neared the throne room, she remembered her father setting her upon the throne, putting a tiara on her head, and telling her that she was going to be the princess of Mirkwood.

She was not afraid of being recognized because no one around her would expect someone who had 'died' thousands of years ago to walk among them again. They would not even be _looking_ for her. But she kept her head down as a precaution; if she _was_ recognized things would bode ill for all concerned. They arrived at the throne room, and the guard at the entrance showed the same surprise as the palace guards had at seeing them.

"Sire! We were not expecting you for-"

"Two weeks, yes I know, we had a run in with some orcs and were forced to leave quickly," Legolas said with a touch of irritation, "I would speak with my father immediately."

"Yes of course, sire, but…" the guard glanced at Elano and Ivana, plainly confused as to why they were here.

"The girl will come with me into the throne room. She has done much that she is sorry for," Legolas lied, "But she must have words with the King nonetheless."

"Of course, sire," the guard said, giving Ivana a nasty look.

"Elano, wait here till I call you," Legolas said. He decided that he didn't have to tell the guard why Elano was here, he didn't want to explain too much and make himself look suspicious.

He strode into the throne room, and told Ivana to wait at the entrance where Thranduil could not see her. He sensed that if his father saw her immediately, he might be too shocked to make sense of anything he might have to say.

"Legolas!" Thranduil exclaimed, rising as he saw his son approach, "You're here early!"

"I had a run in with some orcs," Legolas said.

"What? Are you injured?" Thranduil asked with concern.

"Yes, but Aragorn has already seen to me," Legolas said, waving it away, _his_ injury was the least of their problems.

Thranduil sighed with relief, but he sensed a moment later that something was still wrong.

His eyes widened as a possibility came to his mind. "Legolas, please tell me one of the students did not get hurt."

Legolas nodded miserably, and Thranduil groaned in dismay.

"_Please_ tell me it wasn't a girl," Thranduil said, but he knew by the stricken look on Legolas's face that it was.

"Did she survive?" he asked.

"Yes," Legolas said, and Thranduil looked relieved for a moment before worry creased his forehead again.

"Legolas, who was it?" he asked, though he knew it would make no difference. Whoever it was, it would still eventually end up putting Legolas in prison.

"It was me," said a voice behind them. Thranduil turned ashen. He couldn't _believe_ what he was seeing. He collapsed onto the throne, his eyes never leaving Ivana, who continued to walk toward him.

Legolas backed out of the room to give them some privacy. He did not want to see their reunion; it would only serve to increase his own guilt at being the reason for their separation in the first place. He gave them ten minutes, and then re-entered the room.

Ivana and Thranduil were sitting on the floor with their arms around each other, and they were talking animatedly. Both looked up in surprise at Legolas's approach; they had been so preoccupied each other that they had forgotten he had even been in the room. Thranduil's gaze cleared slightly and he rose to face his son, who for some reason was not meeting his eye.

"I hope you can forgive me, Legolas," Thranduil said.

It was the last thing Legolas had expected him to say. In fact he had been about to say the same to Thranduil. He looked questioningly at his father.

"For keeping this secret from you for so long, I hope you can forgive me," Thranduil elaborated.

"There is nothing for me to forgive, it is you who must forgive me," Legolas said, "I was the reason all this happened. My birth…"

"Don't you dare say such a thing, Legolas!" Thranduil said sharply, "I prize every moment of my life with you as much as I prize every moment with Ivana. I love you as much as I love her, because you are _both_ my children in every way that counts."

Legolas did not reply to this, but his guilt lessened somewhat as he realized that what his father said had a grain of truth in it. However, his expression turned somber when he remembered what was in store for Ivana. The same thought seemed to have occurred to Thranduil, for his face grew grim too.

"There is no way you can save me, ada," Ivana said, sensing the change of mood. "If you do not punish me for what I did, the kingdom will rebel and your rule will fall to pieces."

"There's no way this can be kept secret?" Thranduil asked.

"No, unless I tell the children to keep silent about Ivana getting injured," Legolas said. _He_ knew that this would be an ideal solution, but his father would never hold for it.

"That's not an option Legolas."

"Then what do we do?"

"There's nothing we can do, Lego-" Ivana began, but Legolas cut her short.

"Don't you dare, Ivana- we have to do _something_, we can't just let you-"

"And neither can we," said a voice from behind them.

The three started and turned, to find Celin and Elano walking towards them.

"What are you doing here, both of you?" Legolas said with a hint of disapproval, "I told you to wait outside, Elano, and Celin you aren't even supposed to be here!"

"Sir we…er…"

"_Yes?_" Legolas asked.

"We…we sort of…er…" Celin shot a nervous glance outside the entrance of the throne room and fell silent.

Legolas frowned and walked to the entrance, and gaped at the sight that met him.

"Tell me," he said turning slowly towards Celin, "That this was _not_ your idea?"

Celin shuffled his feet uncomfortably, but was spared answering by Thranduil, who by this time was too puzzled not to speak.

"What in the name of Eru is going on?" he asked loudly.

When his question was met by an embarrassed silence, he strode towards the door to see for himself what was happening.

…

Elgalad and Pilinel held the struggling guard down while Celin and Elano ran into the throne room. Behind them, a number of students were crowded into the narrow corridor. Some of them had slightly nervous, tense expressions, but most of them had a look of determined resolution on their faces.

A few seconds later, Legolas's head could be seen at the entrance, but it turned away a few seconds later and was seen to be questioning Celin and Elano. The children murmured nervously amongst themselves. Some of them were beginning to have second thoughts, which were increased tenfold by the appearance of the King.

Thranduil stopped dead at the sight that met him. His eyes traveled from the restrained guard, to the students, and then to Celin, who was right behind him. He glared, and instantly began to tower over the children.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked regally.

The children shuffled their feet and eyed the floor guiltily.

"Release that man at once!" he commanded after a moment's silence.

The boys instantly did so, and the guard sprang to his feet, rubbing his sore arms, and glaring at his captors. Things might have gone ill for the children if Legolas had not stepped in at that point.

"Father, if you do not mind, I would like to talk to the children alone for a few moments."

Thranduil glared at his son, who he held responsible for the children's lack of discipline, and retreated into the throne room to Ivana, who immediately engaged him in a whispered conversation.

Legolas looked at the children for a moment, and then spoke quietly but in as commanding a tone as his father had used.

"Kindly explain yourselves."

…

TBC…

Hey guys! I'm sooooooo sorry for being this late on the update, but I've been really busy! What with homework, and festivals, and movies, where does one get the time to even breathe, let alone write?

Incidentally, I saw a great movie on Saturday, a Hindi movie, "Mangal Pandey" which I already told Hersheys about. I recommend it to EVERYONE who's looking for something nice to watch- but a couple of warnings. It's Bollywood. There'll be singing and dancing and people speaking in HINDI, I repeat; HINDI, so watch it with subtitles, or at least with someone who understands the language and is willing to explain. Also, there have been write-ups saying that it doesn't show the British in a good light (it's a historical movie- that's where the British come in) but I have never seen a Hindi movie that has shown the British in any good light, so actually this is a first. Watch it for Toby Stevens, whose acting was fab. I think the English will specially enjoy it!

Okay, I'm going to go straight to review replies, cause I have college in an hour and haven't bathed or eaten yet/

Hersheys: Yes you were the first reviewer, but since we talked just this morning, I have no clue what to say. You're school starts in September! You are sooo lucky! Oh and, sorry I didn't update as soon as you wanted me to, but what can I say? I try? Thanks for the review.

Deana: Lightning? That was so not what I was expecting. However, I'm glad to hear you HAVE been reading regularly, and I hope you review a bit too now and then. Not all the time, but hey, who doesn't like reviews, right?

Lindahoyland: Glad you liked it. As you can see, the 'youngsters' just took matter into their own hands. They'd be dead if it wasn't for me. Then again, if it wasn't for me, they wouldn't be THERE in the first place, LOL.

I love the new and improved Eomer! He is so cool. The trial's going to be your next update right? Can't wait! Thanks for reviewing.

WildBlackWolf and Viva: Oh I see. It IS a missionary type thing. Interesting, I was sort of under the impression that that sort of thing didn't happen nowadays, but apparently I'm wrong.

By the way, my mother didn't have to walk through a flood to work, she had to walk back from work. But yes, she does go in a sari everyday. I hate saris. Too tough to wear, I had to wear one on graduation in March and I felt as if it was going to fall off any second. An opinion most of my friends shared too. Thank you, we'll need your blessings! People are dying of leptosporosis (that's what it was called) left and right!

Fluffybunny: Thanks! Please review this time too!

Oh and if I left anyone out again, I'm sorry, but I love you.


	29. The Children Speak

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 29: The Children Speak

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

"Kindly explain yourselves."

The children shuffled their feet, and muttered inaudibly.

Then Celin said from behind Legolas, "Sir, perhaps it is best we discuss this in some privacy…" he glanced pointedly at the guard, who scowled at him.

Legolas too looked at the guard, and remembered the nasty look he had given Ivana when he was told that she was in trouble with the King. _He really is a nasty piece of work_, Legolas thought musingly. _Maybe it is best to send him away._ But how was he supposed to exercise authority in the presence of his father? It would raise too many eyebrows.

His dilemma was solved when Thranduil himself said, "Perhaps it would be best if you left, Pelinlas. I will recall you when we are done here."

"No, wait!" Legolas told the guard, much to everybody's surprise. He turned to the children. "What did you do with Aragorn?"

The children shuffled their feet and looked uncomfortable.

"What did you do with Aragorn?" Legolas repeated more forcefully with a shiver of apprehension, for the Man would never have allowed them to just barge into the throne room without a good fight.

"We er …sir, we followed you, the moment you left, five of us stayed behind and tied him up, while six more-"

"You did what!" Legolas exclaimed.

"We er…um…" They exchanged guilty looks and fell silent.

"Where is he?" Legolas said, with an inward groan, "At the gates?"

"Yes, sir."

"Quickly, Pelinlas, go and find King Elessar and untie him at once, and send him here, along the rest of the children!"

The guard disappeared at a run through the doors, muttering the words "little rascals" as he left, and Legolas turned to face the children again.

"This seems to have been carefully planned out," he said, puzzled, "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because we know everything, sir. About Ivana, and how she's-"

"You _know_?" Legolas said with fear in his eyes.

"Yes sir, we…I…I was sleeping in the branch above the tree house and I overheard what Ivana told you," Linnor scanned the floor as if it held the secrets of the universe.

"You've known since then?" Legolas said, stunned.

"Er…yes sir."

"And you told every one what you knew?"

"Yessir."

"_And_ you didn't tell me you knew?"

"No, sir, but neither did Ivana," this last was from Elano, who immediately regretted the slip.

"Ivana knew we knew!" everyone, _including_ all of the Elflings, and Legolas exclaimed.

"Yes, you weren't exactly quiet when Linnor told you everything," Ivana said, throwing up her hands in a defensive gesture.

"Then why did you keep it secret?" Legolas said, turning towards her with a frown, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You would have stopped them; it would have been your duty as a teacher," Ivana said, slightly shamefaced.

"So…?"

"Legolas, I gave them a chance to come up with something that just might help!"

"If you say so, Ivana," Legolas said, suddenly feeling tired, "It doesn't really matter at this point. These children have evidently come here to say something, and I should very much like to know what that something is."

"We sympathize with Ivana," Celin said solemnly, "And if the King orders us to, we will carry the secret of her identity to our graves. If the King doesn't order us to, we will still carry it to our graves."

In spite of the situation, Legolas found himself biting back a laugh. It was evident that they had planned the statement well, because it seemed too dramatic to be a spur of the moment one.

"In the first place, the King cannot 'order' you to do anything, you are minors," he told them, amused, "And secondly, you are all Elves, and will hopefully never reach a grave!"

"Sir! We're serious!" Celin said, highly affronted.

Legolas's smile faded at the words, because it _was_ serious. _They_ were serious. And he knew that if he asked them to, they really would keep it a secret. He was touched, but it was out of the question.

"You know I cannot ask you to do this," he said quietly.

"Don't you trust us, sir? We kept your secret."

"Of course I trust you!" Legolas exclaimed hurriedly, fearing that Celin might give away the fact that he had asked them to keep the contents of his letter a secret. Thranduil snorted in disbelief, but Legolas was spared any explaining by the arrival of Aragorn. He looked rumpled, irritated, and was trailed by eleven chagrinned children.

Legolas turned to him and explained briefly what had happened. "And _I_ trust them," he finished.

Aragorn's eyebrows shot up and Thranduil wondered again

if he had heard correctly.

"They are children," he hissed in the Common Tongue, so the children would not understand him. "How can you say such a thing? We are _finished_. Now that they know, _we are finished_."

"No, we are not," Legolas replied in the same language, "If I asked them to keep this secret, which I cannot, they would do it. They have before. And it isn't some _stupid_, _trivial_ thing I told them to keep quiet, it is something that really must be kept a secret, for the good of all. And they have all kept it well."

"Legolas, that sounds serious," Aragorn said, "What…?"

"That will remain between the children and me," he said, interrupting, "I'm sorry, Aragorn."

The Man nodded, excepting this for the moment, but the King was harder to convince.

"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed, "Legolas, are you telling me that you would trust these children with a secret of this magnitude?"

"Yes, with all my heart."

"But…"

"Father, what choice do we have?"

Thranduil was not convinced. "If this gets out, we'll look very, _very_ bad. People will say we silenced the children just to save Ivana…we'll be done for."

"They will never reveal this unless they are actually, physically tortured into doing so," Legolas argued firmly, "And why would anyone do that? Everyone thinks Ivana is dead, even if they saw her, they would not suspect she was Ivana Oakenshield, Thranduil's adopted daughter, and declared heir to the throne."

"Legolas, why do you trust these children so much? You speak of them as though you love them!"

"Is that so hard to believe, ada?" Legolas asked quietly.

Thranduil gasped, and Aragorn lowered his gaze. He had known that Legolas _cared_ for the children, but _this much_? Only Ivana was not surprised.

"How…when did this happen?"

"Somewhere during the hunting trip," Legolas said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. It wasn't often that he professed his 'love' for people, and he did not like to be interrogated when he did.

"But…you _hated_ the idea…at the beginning, you…" Thranduil stared at his son wordlessly, who bowed his head, not knowing what to say.

There was a long silence, and then Thranduil said in a slightly awed voice, "Alright. I don't know how this happened, but if you really care so much about them then they truly must be something special. You don't usually get attached to people, Legolas, and when you do…the least I can do is respect what you say about them."

"Thank you, ada," Legolas said quietly, thinking privately that if the least it took to convince his father of something was to tell him he was attached to it, he'd have done it ages ago.

Thranduil nodded and turned to the children, "Would you keep this secret for us?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," they all chorused in one voice, slightly awed to be addressed by the King himself.

"We only ask one thing in return, Your Majesty," Celin said boldly stepping forward as an idea occurred to him.

"And what's that?" Thranduil said, frowning.

"Do not punish Elano."

Thranduil stared. If he had been expecting anything at all, it was not this. "Er…what?" he said in bewilderment.

At that moment Elano stepped forward. "Elano Timani, at your service, Your Majesty" he said, bowing low before the King.

"Wait a minute!" Thranduil said faintly. "You're not the son of the Elf who passed away-?"

"A few months ago? Yes, I am, Your Majesty," Elano stated.

"But what are you doing here?"

"Do you remember you sent me a letter asking about my father's last wish, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, but you replied saying it was nothing that I could fulfill."

"His wish was that I serve our country the way he did. That is why I pretended to be a teenager and joined sir's-"

"You _what!_" Thranduil exclaimed, starting forward, "But that's-"

"I _know_, Your Majesty. It was the only way I could learn the art of warfare. But I plead guilty. Do what you will with me now, I care not."

"No!" Legolas, Celin, and Ivana said simultaneously, stepping between Elano and Thranduil.

…

TBC…

Hello, guys! Yes, I know, long time no see! Can't help it, I've been SOOO busy. One of my friends is directing a movie, and I'm his creative assistant (which means I have to proof-read his work). Anyway, the shooting is on Wednesday, and it'll come in the papers and on TV and stuff…so…..

Anyhow, remember that movie I told you about? It was in the UK top ten recently! I didn't realize it was THAT popular, coz it did have a few bad reviews.

Well. Not much more to say. Just give you some review replies:

Deana: Hope you like this one as well.

Orlando's Sweetheart: Oh you're in High School! YAY! You're also Orlando's Sweetheart! WHO ISN'T? Just don't change your penname too much, okay? It's too confusing and it'll loose you reviewers. But this is a great penname. Stick with this one. I will beta your chapter as soon as possible, no later than Tuesday. That okay with you? See ya!

Lindahoyland: Thanks! And I'm open to discuss HP any time. Topics for discussion? Like how (sob) the one who died, died? And the one who killed him? sob I don't think he's evil though! I mean the HBP, I don't think he's evil. I'm going to write a fanfic to prove him, because I just LOVED that character. I'm talking in riddles so that anyone who hasn't read HP won't have their fun spoiled. Update soon!

Ceriadra: Uh huh….thanks for reviewing.

Bye people!

P.S. Next chapter is the last chapter. I have a sequel planned. More about that next update.


	30. Epilogue

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Books » Lord of the Rings » **A Teacher's Duty**font: B s : A A A . width: full 3/4 1/2Author: Stoneage Woman1. Prologue2. A Class of Hooligans3. Tiresome Children4. Revelations5. Bad Relationships6. Progress Report7. An Eventful Lesson8. Setting Off9. You Do Care10. An Unlikely Friendship11. Elano's Admission and Celin's Revenge12. Many Surprises13. Forging a Relationship14. Another Discovery15. More Trouble16. Elano Is Surprising17. Questions18. Good Advice19. A Timely Meeting20. A Shattered Facade21. A Meeting With Aragorn22. Legolas Causes a Storms of Emotions23. Healing Legolas24. Trust and Friendship25. More Healing26. Ivana's Secret27. A Hopeless Situation28. A Bittersweet Reunion29. The Children Speak30. EpilogueFiction Rated: T - English - Drama/Angst - Legolas - Reviews: 136 - Published: 07-01-04 - Updated: 08-21-08 - Complete - id:1940948

Title: A Teacher's Duty

Chapter 30: Epilogue

NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers.

…

"I plead guilty. Do what you will with me, I care not."

"No!" Legolas, Celin, and Ivana said simultaneously, stepping between Elano and Thranduil.

"You cannot," Legolas continued heatedly, looking first at Elano, then at his father.

"I won't let you!" Celin exclaimed, ready to stand by his friend.

"You don't deserve it," Ivana said quietly, but with no less conviction than the other two.

"And why, may I ask, is that?" Thranduil asked coldly, though he wondered what could be so special about this person that his son, daughter, and a ridiculously impudent teenager would defend him in this way.

"He saved my life," they all stated in one breath.

Thranduil stared. "He saved…all your lives?" he asked, wondering if there was anything left that could surprise him.

"Yes," Legolas stated. "When Celin fell into the river, he leapt in and saved his life. I should have guessed then that he was an adult; because Elflings are not supposed to learn how to swim and he knew how to; but he told me that _his_ _sister_ was the Elfling that had died half a century ago, and his family had insisted that he learn swimming early so the same fate would not befall him."

"Which was true," Elano stated quietly, "My sister really _was_ the one who died half a century ago, and I knew how to swim before she drowned, _before_ the clause was added to our directive principles, because she was my twin, and we learnt at the same time."

Thranduil looked up, startled. "It was your _twin_ who died all those years ago?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Elano said quietly, looking down to hide the tears in his eyes; but failing to deceive the ever-perceptive Legolas, who was shocked into speechlessness.

He now realized why Elano was always so quiet and withdrawn. The loss of a twin was a terrible tragedy, one that none could recover from. He knew through observation of Elrond's sons the sort of bond that existed between twins. He glanced at Elano, and saw the unspoken plea in the Elf's face for someone to change the topic. Unable to offer any other comfort, he did.

"When we were attacked by orcs, Ivana was badly injured," he said, causing everyone's gaze to shift back to him, "But he managed to keep her alive for four days until Aragorn arrived and healed her."

"Yes, but that was only because of a family heirloom which-" Elano began, back to his normal, modest self.

"And I was whipped by the orcs, and he healed me enough to go and seek Aragorn who healed Ivana-" Legolas began, but was interrupted again;

"-which was a disaster, because you were poisoned, and I didn't realize it. If it hadn't been for Lord Aragorn realizing the symptoms-"

"Yet, without your salves and bandages, I would have bled to death!" Legolas retorted, "Give yourself credit where you deserve it."

"I do not understand," Thranduil said, confused by everything he was hearing, "How is it that you are a healer?"

"My mother's family has been in the healing profession for generations, Your Majesty. She trained me."

"But…is it not the custom for a He-elf to be trained in his _father's_ profession?" Thranduil asked, puzzled.

"Aye, that is so, Your Majesty, but when I came of age I chose to be trained in the healing arts."

"Why?" Thranduil said, though he knew that it was not his business, "Why didn't you want to be trained in warfare?"

Elano did not know how to answer the question. After all, how was he supposed to tell a King who had fought and won many battles that he did not believe in war? It would sound…presumptuous at best. He glanced at Legolas helplessly, who understood in an instant what he was thinking.

He cleared his throat, and said, "Elano is a very peace loving person, ada. He cannot bring himself to hurt any living thing. Even as I taught him to fight, I could tell he did not want to learn. He has always been my worst student. Yet, his healing abilities have saved us from many a tragedy."

Thranduil looked from Elano, to his son, and then Elano again. "So, you are one of those 'peace loving' Elves," he stated, but not unkindly.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Elano fidgeted and looked at the floor.

Legolas stared at his father in surprise, "There are _more_ who believe this?" he asked.

"If you'd spend a little more time at home, you'd know that very well," Thranduil said sharply, glaring at his son, "You're the prince of Mirkwood and you haven't a clue about the many peoples it houses! Why, your own mother believed in this!"

"My mother was…?" Legolas was amazed.

"Yes, she never ate meat. She used to drive me insane sometimes, trying to convince me to do the same."

Legolas's heart sank. He hoped his father would not allow his experiences with Caladel to interfere with his judgment of Elano. He looked pleadingly at the King, who seemed to have decision.

"Well, well. Elano Timani," Thranduil looked at Elano appraisingly, "You are guilty of deceiving the royal family. By the law of Mirkwood, it is my duty to punish him by a thousand year prison sentence."

Legolas started forward, "One thousand years, ada! Do you have any idea-?"

"The law of Mirkwood is not to be trifled with," Thranduil interrupted him sharply. He paused, and Elano raised his head to look at him squarely in the eye, "So I give Elano Timani a full pardon."

"Father, you cannot- _what_!" Legolas stopped suddenly, realizing what Thranduil had said.

"The law of Mirkwood states that when a minor's life is saved by another, that person will be given a reward," Thranduil said, smiling slightly, "Usually the reward is public recognition of his or her deed. But in this case, that is not advisable because of the crime committed by Elano Timani. Therefore I grant him pardon in lieu of recognition. You are all dismissed."

An amazed, joyful cheer broke from the lips of the children. Elano gave the King a look of deepest gratitude, and bowed low before him before leaving the room with shining eyes.

Legolas smiled. Only his father could make a compliment like this sound like a big insult. His father had truly been ingenious, finding a way to work around the law like that. He would never have done it unless he had been fully convinced that Elano did not deserve punishment.

"Ada…thank you for what you did; it means a lot to me," he said when everyone but Ivana had shuffled out of the room.

Thranduil shook his head, and smiled "It was the least I could do for one who saved both my children."

Legolas nodded, but did not leave. He wanted to ask his father something, but was not sure how to say it. Thranduil seemed to guess what he was thinking.

"You want to ask me something, Legolas?" he asked gently.

Ivana retreated into a far corner of the room almost imperceptibly. Legolas flashed a grateful smile at her.

"Yes," he said, "Father, my mother…?"

"Caladel was a peace lover just like Elano. She, unlike him, adopted it not because of her family, but because she believed it."

"Father, Elano also believes in-"

"I know, Legolas, but if he was born to any other family he would not have believed in it. When I was married to her, every little thing about her used to get on my nerves. Even the fact that she was very careful what she ate. But she was a good woman, and did not deserve my treatment. It was that, after all, which made her hate Ivana after all. I wronged Caladel in many ways I regret, I will not make the same mistake about Elano."

"I understand, ada," Legolas said. Everything made sense. Well, _almost_ everything.

"Ada, Ivana said that if you found out she was alive, you would try to put her on the throne again. What…?"

"Do you think me mad, Legolas?" Thranduil said, with an exasperated smile, "Seeing her alive makes me so happy, I will not risk putting her in a dangerous position again. In fact, she must leave at once. She must go wherever she's been living all these years. Enough people have seen her; enough attention has been drawn to her already. Though it will break my heart to part with her so soon, I have no other choice, for now."

He smiled at his daughter reassuringly, to tell her this was only a temporary arrangement. Somehow he would find a way to make up for the lost years. Legolas excused himself, saying goodbye to Ivana, and telling her he hoped to see her again, soon. He thought that she and his father deserved at least a few minutes alone together before being separated again.

…

That evening, Aragorn and Legolas were walking together in the palace gardens. Each was occupied in his own thoughts. Legolas was thinking sadly about Ivana's departure that afternoon, and Aragorn was thinking about how much depended on the children keeping her identity secret. Some time passed in silence, until Aragorn could bear it no longer.

"Legolas, do you really trust these children as much as you say you do?" he burst out, "Do you actually believe that mere teenagers will keep something this momentous a secret?"

"I told you, Aragorn," Legolas said, tired of having to explain this so often, "They have already kept a secret for me. They will keep this one."

"I heard you, but…how can you be so sure?" Aragorn sighed, frustrated, "Don't misunderstand me, Legolas, I do not grudge you your secrets. I just cannot see how you can leave the fate of your kingdom in the hands of seventy two teenagers, and I'm amazed at how much has changed between you and them in the past few weeks. You used to…well, at least they used to hate you. You were proud of their progress, but never; never did you show you were fond of them in any way."

"It's hard to explain, Aragorn. At first, yes, they hated me. Even after I saved Linnor from the spiders-"

"You _what_! When did this happen?" Aragorn asked in surprise.

"Ages ago, I can barely remember when. But it doesn't matter anymore. A lot's happened since then."

"I can scarcely imagine."

"Consider yourself lucky, then," he paused, "What really matters is that after the orc attack they began to see how much I cared for them. And I did care for them, right from the very beginning, though I never showed it to anyone, even you."

They were silent for a time, but Aragorn's mind was still plagued with something, "How much do you trust them?"

"Why do you doubt me so?"

"I'm sorry, mellonamin, but to me they are mere children. They always have been. You're the one who always took them too seriously. That's why your relationship with them was never..._ideal_."

"I think you just made the understatement of the year," Legolas said, smiling at his friend wryly, "In answer to your question, though, I trust those children with my life, if I had to."

"Which isn't saying much, you _know_ that," Aragorn said, rolling his eyes, recalling how many times during their long acquaintance Legolas had shown absolutely no concern for himself when others around him were at risk.

Legolas growled under his breath and said in an overtone, "I would trust them with my _life_, Aragorn, and I would trust them with yours as well, if I had to." He had not meant to say that; it had just slipped out unbidden, but every word of it was true.

He winced as Aragorn gasped, staring at him in amazement and wonder. Both knew the implications of what he had said. Aragorn was _everything_ to Legolas, they both knew it well enough to shy from it, because when Aragorn died eventually, Legolas would be completely broken by the grief. This was why neither had ever acknowledged the painful subject; and why Legolas's statement shocked Aragorn so much.

"Forgive me, melonamin," the latter said some moments later in a slightly awed whisper, "I knew not what I spoke. Those children…must be the most extraordinary beings in the world to elicit such a statement from you. I should never have doubted you."

"It's alright, Aragorn," Legolas said, shifting uncomfortably, "There is nothing to forgive."

Again they sat in silence for a while.

Then Legolas spoke, slightly hesitatingly, "Estel, would you do something for me?"

"What is it?"

"Would you please have a look at Celin's ankle? It would be a pity to loose him if there was something to be done to cure it. He is a wonderful fighter, and we would sorely miss him in times of battle."

"Of course, Legolas," Aragorn shook his head that his friend had even asked, "I was going to do it myself when I got the time."

"Thank you. I don't know how to say this, how you will react…"

"I will kill you, Legolas," Aragorn said in a deadly voice, then said after a dramatic pause, "If you don't tell me what you're on about right this _instant_!" He laughed at his friend, "_Really!_ You talk as if I could turn you into a Dwarf!"

Legolas grinned at the idea, but he was still tense about what Aragorn would say to him, "I want to continue these classes as a school, Aragorn. Where teenagers can come for training every year. Not just Elven children from Mirkwood, but human children from Gondor as well. I know there is not much threat with Sauron dead, and not enough orcs to justify this act. I know that the Elves are leaving anyway, and it will not matter so much in a few millennia."

He paused, and gathered his thoughts, not looking at Aragorn's face for fear of what he would see, "But the children will stay for a while yet. They have yet to experience this world, Estel. They won't leave for the Undying Lands for a long time yet. And while they are here, they might as well be trained to ward off any evil threat that crops up in the future."

"Yes…I have to support you in this…you are right," Aragorn said after a long deliberation, though he looked none to pleased about the matter.

"I am always right, Aragorn," Legolas said, relaxing into humor.

"Ri-ight," Aragorn said sarcastically, causing them both to laugh.

"Thank you," Legolas said after their humor subsided, "It means much to me."

Aragorn nodded once, and then said jestingly, "Anything else I can do for you, my liege?"

"Not unless you can work a miracle or two," Legolas said, as he was suddenly struck by another thought, "It will pain him to leave us now, which he must certainly do. And I will be most sorry to see the back of him too, as everyone else will be, especially Celin."

"Well, then, you'll be pleased to know that I've been thinking," Aragorn said with barely repressed glee.

"Wait, you can think? Since when?"

"Ha, ha, Legolas, very funny," Aragorn said with wry sarcasm, "I was only going to suggest that if Elano were willing, I could, in turn, train him in the art of healing."

Legolas gasped, staring at Legolas in amazed surprise. "You're the cleverest person alive, Aragorn!" he exclaimed joyfully when he had recovered speech, "That's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard.

"Now, don't set your heart on it, Legolas, I'll only do it if it doesn't seem like I'm questioning the King. That would not be very wise."

"It's your choice and Elano's, that's our law, it cannot offend anyone, not even my father," Legolas said, dismissing the possibility, and allowing his joy to show in his words, "Oh Aragorn, Elano will embrace this opportunity with much gratitude and happiness. _Thank you_ for doing this. All you'd have to do is to tell him that he would be serving Mirkwood just as much as his father wanted if he became the army healer. He'd agree in a heartbeat."

"I could not do less for one like him," Aragorn said, smiling at his friend's happiness, "I will go and find him right now, so I can tell him without further delay. I would not have him wallowing in misery for longer than need be." He rose, and so did Legolas.

"I will go to find my father and tell him of our decision about the school," Legolas said, "I doubt he'll have any objection at all. In fact, he'll be delighted; this is what he wanted all along, I think."

"It would have been a bit much to expect after the fuss you made in January, remember?"

"That's true," Legolas admitted reluctantly, "But I still think he'd be all for the idea once I put it across to him."

"Yes, I'm sure he will. But now I must go to find Elano and check on Celin. Meet me here in an hour or so?"

Legolas nodded, and Aragorn walked away. The Elf watched the Man with a smile on his face, as he realized that all his problems had vanished into thin air, save one. He still regretted the fact that Ivana had to leave. Yet he was grateful that her fate was not worse, for it very well could have been. Ivana might be dead. With that thought, he shook off his gloominess and strode towards the throne room with a smile on his face.

Because for now, all was well.

…

THE END.

Hey, guys, I'm down with viral fever and can barely breathe, let alone write you review replies. Sorry I haven't updated in so long, my net was down. Still is. Using dad's laptop, LOL. It might take ages, but I've no intention of letting that get in the way.

I do have a sequel planned for this story, but since I really want to lie down now, please wait till I write a nice author's note with review replies, sequel plans, and everything else you might want. Excuse this chapter for any typos you might find, I was too sick to notice 'em. Thank you very much for reviewing, all of you! Take care! Until next time!

Submit ReviewReport Possible AbuseAdd Story to FavoritesAdd Story to Story AlertAdd Author to FavoritesAdd Author to Author AlertAdd Story to C2 Archive 1. Prologue2. A Class of Hooligans3. Tiresome Children4. Revelations5. Bad Relationships6. Progress Report7. An Eventful Lesson8. Setting Off9. You Do Care10. An Unlikely Friendship11. Elano's Admission and Celin's Revenge12. Many Surprises13. Forging a Relationship14. Another Discovery15. More Trouble16. Elano Is Surprising17. Questions18. Good Advice19. A Timely Meeting20. A Shattered Facade21. A Meeting With Aragorn22. Legolas Causes a Storms of Emotions23. Healing Legolas24. Trust and Friendship25. More Healing26. Ivana's Secret27. A Hopeless Situation28. A Bittersweet Reunion29. The Children Speak30. Epilogue

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